Cell-mediated immunity of Yersinia enterocolitica serotype 3 in patients with thyroid diseases

The cellular immunity to Yersinia enterocolitica serotype 3 and crude human thyroid extract in 64 patients with thyroid diseases and 25 controls was studied by the leucocyte migration test. In the patient group as a whole and in patients with Graves' disease and nontoxic diffuse goitre a significantly reduced leucocyte migration towards Yersinia was found when compared with the controls. In controls the migration index was not related to the presence or titre of circulating yersinia antibodies, whereas the migration index of patients with yersinia antibodies was lower than the migration index of patients without yersinia antibodies as well as that of the controls. The leucocyte migration inhibition in two patients with recent yersinosis was normal during the recovery phase. In the presence of thyroid extract leucocyte migration inhibition differed only significantly in Graves' disease. However, a significantly positive correlation between inhibition of migration by thyroid extract and by Yersinia was found, while no correlation could be demonstrated in the controls. The cell-mediated immunity towards Yersinia in thyroid diseases thus demonstrated adds further evidence to the association between Yersinia and thyroid disease.