[Autoimmunity in endocrinology: general principles]

The thymus is a crucial meeting place between the major systems of cell-to-cell communication, the nervous, the endocrine and the immune systems. More specifically, the thymus is the site for establishment of central T cell self-tolerance of neuroendocrine principles. The different factors--genetic, environmental, sexual--that intervene in the pathogenesis of autoimmune endocrinopathies are briefly reviewed here. Current research try to evidence that a thymic dysfunction, a defect in central self-tolerance could play an important role in the development of organ-specific autoimmune diseases, or cell-specific such as type 1 diabetes.