Immunogenetic mechanisms leading to thyroid autoimmunity: recent advances in identifying susceptibility genes and regions.

ABSTRACT: The autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) include Graves' disease (GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), which are characterised by a breakdown in immune tolerance to thyroid antigens. Unravelling the genetic architecture of AITD is vital to better understanding of AITD pathogenesis, required to advance therapeutic options in both disease management and prevention. The early whole-genome linkage and candidate gene association studies provided the first evidence that the HLA region and CTLA-4 represented AITD risk loci. Recent improvements in; high throughput genotyping technologies, collection of larger disease cohorts and cataloguing of genome-scale variation have facilitated genome-wide association studies and more thorough screening of candidate gene regions. This has allowed identificatio

SUBMITTER: Brand OJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3271307 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature