[Apoptosis in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disease]

Apoptosis is a physiological process of cell death that occurs as part of normal development and in response to a variety of physiological and pathophysiological stimuli. The effector mechanisms, which carry out the death program, are well preserved across species and evolution. This article summarizes the recent studies on apoptosis in view of its molecular mechanism and the relation to autoimmune thyroid diseases. In Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is a typical organ-specific autoimmune disease, Fas-FasL-mediated apoptosis has been demonstrated as the mechanism of follicular epithelial cell death. In Graves' disease, Anti TSH receptor antibody inhibits Fas antigen-mediated apoptosis of thyrocytes through the inhibitory effect of Fas antigen expression, resulting in the promotion of growth of the thyroid gland.