Discoveries in Thyroid Autoimmunity in the Past Century

This review on the 100th anniversary of the American Thyroid Association summarizes the remarkable progress attained during the past century regarding the pathogenesis and treatment of thyroid autoimmune diseases. Indeed, the general concept of autoimmune diseases in humans was established 70 years ago by thyroid investigators. Graves' disease is a paradigm for the rare occurrence of how autoimmunity can cause disease by stimulating rather than destroying an organ system. Therapeutic advances in the mid 20th century involving administration of thyroid hormones, thionamide drugs, and radioiodine have been hugely beneficial for human health. However, these approaches can only treat, but not cure, thyroid autoimmunity. Investigation of these diseases is facilitated by the identification of a limited number of specific autoantigens, whose molecular cloning has provided much information on their structure. This knowledge has led to highly sensitive and specific diagnostic tests, provided insight into novel aspects regarding the pathogenesis of thyroid autoimmunity, and has opened avenues for the development of new therapeutic agents. Immunotherapy for a cure as opposed to therapy of Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis remains the holy grail for the 21st century.