Proposing a causal link between thyroid hormone resistance and primary autoimmune hypothyroidism
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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Generation of a Mouse Spontaneous Autoimmune Thyroiditis Model
Published on: March 17, 2023
Claire Gavin1, Hilary Meggison, Teik Chye Ooi
1Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, The Ottawa Hospital, Riverside Campus, 1967 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1H 7W9. cgavin@ottawahospital.on.ca
Abstract:
Resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH) is a rare, inherited condition. It is characterised by raised circulating fT4 and TSH levels. The literature contains a number of descriptions of the finding of thyroid autoantibodies in patients with RTH. Until now, this has been attributed to the coincidental development of primary autoimmune thyroiditis as a second unrelated pathology. Our hypothesis is that the chronic TSH elevation in RTH stimulates lymphocytes to produce the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha. TNF-alpha, in turn mediates thyroid cell destruction by binding to its receptors on thyrocytes, or indirectly by potentiating antibody formation or cytotoxic T lymphocyte production.
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