Thyrogastric autoimmune disease. Studies on the cell-mediated immune system and histocompatibility antigens

Cell-mediated immune responses were studied in autoimmune diseases of thyrogastric type, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and autoimmune pernicious anaemia-type gastritis. Specific cell-mediated immunity was investigated by the leucocyte migration inhibition procedure, and general cell-mediated immunity (T-cell performance) was studied by standard in vivo and in vitro tests. In thyrogastric autoimmune diseases inhibition of migration of leucocytes was induced by thyroglobulin and gastric parietal cell microsomes; under conditions of presumably low cellular sensitization, stimulation of migration was observed. There was no depression of general cell-mediated immunity, in contrast to what occurs in systemic lupus erythematosus and related autoimmune diseases. A weak association of autoimmune gastritis with HL-A3 and HL-A7 (P LESS THAN 0.05) lost significance when an appropriate correction was applied; this weakness with HL-A clearly does not explain the strong genetic component in thyroid and gastric autoimmunity.