The effect of aging on the induction of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis

The effect of age on the ability to elicit the various immune functions comprising experimental autoimmune thyroiditis in mice has been examined. Compared with young mice (2 to 3 mo), CBA/CaJ and A/J aged mice (20 to 30 mo) show a drastic reduction in their ability to develop circulating antibody after injection of mouse thyroglobulin (MTg) or mouse thyroid extract (MTE) in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). Delayed-type hypersensitivity responses were also depressed, as well as the ability of aged lymph node cells to proliferate in vitro to antigen and the ability of aged splenic T cells to function as helper cells for in vitro antibody production. However, after injection of these thyroid antigens in CFA, aged mice developed thyroid lesions either comparable to or only slightly less intense than those observed in young mice. The disparity between the levels of immune responses and thyroid lesions observed in aged mice can be explained by the greater susceptibility of aged thyroids to tissue damage, since transfer of identical numbers of Con A-activated MTE-primed young splenocytes to young and aged recipients results in a more severe thyroiditis in the aged recipients. Priming mice to MTE in CFA at 9 mo of age, at which time mice are responsive to MTE, did not enhance either T or B cell responsiveness to injection of MTE in CFA at 24 mo of age. Lymphocytes from MTE-injected aged mice also failed to transfer thyroiditis to young recipients after in vitro activation of the lymphocytes with Con A.