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Updated: Jul 5, 2026
Generation of a Mouse Spontaneous Autoimmune Thyroiditis Model
Published on: March 17, 2023
The effect of gene therapy using CTLA4Ig/silica-nanoparticles on canine experimental autoimmune thyroiditis
Eun Wha Choi1, Il Seob Shin, Chang Woo Lee
1KRF Zoonotic Disease Priority Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Background:
The present study aimed to determine the effect of canine CTLA4Ig on canine autoimmune thyroiditis. In a previous study, we established a canine model of autoimmune thyroiditis by immunizing normal dogs with bovine thyroglobulin. An in vitro study using recombinant CTLA4Ig revealed that this protein can inhibit the expression of Th1-type cytokines and the pro-inflammatory cytokines tested.
Methods:
As a result of the in vitro study, we constructed therapeutic CTLA4Ig/silica-nanoparticles and applied them to the treatment of experimentally induced canine autoimmune thyroiditis.
Results:
Gene therapy resulted in significant reductions in anti-canine-thyroglobulin autoantibody titer, anti-T4 antibody titer and T-cell proliferation against thyroglobulin and in the mRNA expressions of interleukin-18 in fresh peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from all dogs. There was also a significant reduction compared to day 0 in tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma levels in the supernatant from cultured PBMC.
Conclusions:
The CTLA4Ig-induced suppression of Th1 cytokines is relatively more significant than it appears because autoimmune thyroiditis is a Th1-polarized disease. Thus, CTLA4Ig can improve Th1/Th2 cytokine balance in autoimmune thyroiditis by downregulating Th1 cytokines.
