ECE2018 Poster Presentations: Thyroid Thyroid (non-cancer) (105 abstracts)
1Service of Endocrinology, Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain; 2Immunology and Molecular Biology Unit, Instituto de Investigación Princesa, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; 3Department of Immunology, Research Center of Health Sciences and Biomedicine, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
Context: T regulatory type 1 (Tr1) cells are a subpopulation of T lymphocytes (CD4+CD49+LAG-3+IL-10+) lymphocytes that exerts a significant immunosuppressive effect. However, its possible role in autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) had not been explored so far.
Objective: To analyze the levels and function of Tr1 cells in peripheral blood and thyroid tissue of patients with AITD.
Design: Cases and controls, observational study.
Setting: Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain.
Patients: Thirty-eight patients with AITD (23 with Graves disease and 15 with Hashimoto thyroiditis) and twenty-six controls.
Intervention: Multi-parametric flow cytometry and immunofluorescence techniques were used to analyze the levels in peripheral blood (n=38) and thyroid mononuclear cells (n=5). An in vitro assay of suppression of cellular activation and cytokine release was performed to study the function of Tr1 cells. Main Outcome Measure: Levels and function of Tr1 cells in AITD patients and controls.
Results: Levels of Tr1 cells were significantly diminished in peripheral blood from AITD patients. Functional studies showed that Tr1 cells from AITD patients exhibit a diminished suppressive function compared to healthy controls. Tr1 levels were associated with disease severity, and auto-antibody titers.
Conclusions: The low levels of Tr1 cells and its diminished function may have a relevant role in the defective immune-regulatory function characteristic of AITD patients.