Open AccessAggregation of Thyroid Autoantibodies in Twins from Opposite-Sex Pairs Suggests that Microchimerism May Play a Role in the Early Stages of Thyroid Autoimmunity
Author(s) -
Thomas Heiberg Brix,
Pia Skov Hansen,
Kirsten Ohm Kyvik,
Laszlo Hegedüs
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.206
H-Index - 353
eISSN - 1945-7197
pISSN - 0021-972X
DOI - 10.1210/jc.2009-0813
Subject(s) - microchimerism , autoimmunity , thyroid , autoantibody , immunology , context (archaeology) , pathogenesis , anti thyroid autoantibodies , chimera (genetics) , biology , pregnancy , medicine , fetus , genetics , antibody , gene , paleontology
Microchimerism is the presence of small populations of cells from one individual in another genetically distinct individual. This phenomenon can arise from pregnancy, blood transfusion, or bidirectional cell trafficking between twins in utero. Microchimerism has recently been proposed to play a role in the pathogenesis of thyroid autoimmunity. In that case, twins from opposite-sex pairs (OS) should have an increased risk of thyroid autoantibodies (TA).
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