Abstract
Iodine is an essential trace element for thyroid hormone synthesis and metabolism, either low or high intake may lead to thyroid disease, but the pathogenetic mechanisms by which iodine interacts with the thyroid autoimmune are poorly understood. We investigated the dynamic changes of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in NOD.H-2h4 mice with iodine-induced autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT), and explore potential immune mechanism of AIT induced by iodine. NOD.H-2h4 mice were randomly divided into two groups, and received plain water or water containing 0.005% sodium iodide. Eight weeks after iodine provision, the incidences of thyroiditis, relative weights of thyroids, and serum thyroglobulin antibody titers in the iodine-supplied groups were significantly increased compared to the control groups (p < 0.05). The AIT mice had fewer CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells and reduced Foxp3 mRNA expression in splenocytes compared with the controls (p < 0.01), and maintained relatively low levels during the development of thyroiditis. The changes described above aggravated gradually with the extension of iodine treatment. These data suggest that CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells may be involved in the pathogenesis and development of AIT induced by iodine.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grants from the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, no. 2007AA02Z4Z1), Special Research Fund for Doctor Discipline Unit of the Ministry of Education (no. 20070159007), and Key Laboratory Project of Liaoning Province (no. 2008S225).
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest related to the publication of this manuscript.
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Haibo Xue and Weiwei Wang have contributed equally to this work.
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Xue, H., Wang, W., Shan, Z. et al. Dynamic Changes of CD4+CD25+ Regulatory T Cells in NOD.H-2h4 Mice with Iodine-Induced Autoimmune Thyroiditis. Biol Trace Elem Res 143, 292–301 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-010-8815-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-010-8815-x