Twins as a tool for evaluating the influence of genetic susceptibility in thyroid autoimmunity

By means of large twin cohorts, it has been possible to provide relatively valid and unbiased data regarding the influence of genetic and to some extent epigenetic factors in the aetiology of thyroid autoimmunity. The comparison of concordance rates between monozygotic and dizygotic twins provides irrefutable evidence of a genetic component in the aetiology of both Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, as well as for harbouring thyroid autoantibodies. Biometric modelling shows that approximately 75% of the total phenotypic variance in autoimmune thyroid disease is due to genetic effects. Despite the well known gender difference in the prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disease, the analyzes suggest that it is the same set of genes that operate in males and females. The lack of complete phenotypic concordance in monozygotic twin pairs indicates that also environmental and/or epigenetic factors are of importance. The impact of specific environmental and epigenetic exposures can be evaluated by investigating disease discordant twin pairs. Our studies show that skewed X chromosome inactivation is associated with clinically overt AITD but not with the presence of TPOAb in euthyroid individuals. It is now recognized that twin studies offer several features that uniquely enhance our ability to localize genes and understand their function. Future twin studies will incorporate information on genetic and epigenetic variation making it possible to quantify the precise effect of specific susceptibility genes and/or epigenetic variation on estimates of heritability.