Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0024312 (lymphopenia)
 4,859 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We describe an epidemic of self-limited (6 weeks) thyrotoxicosis which affected 12 index cases, 5 household contacts, and 6 retrospectively identified cases in July, August, and September, 1987 in the town of Winterswijk (28,011 inhabitants), The Netherlands. A small goiter was present in 9 of the 12 index patients, tender upon palpation in only 2. Signs and symptoms of thyrotoxicosis were accompanied by a low grade fever in combination with fatigue, headache, myalgia, and a fine desquamation of the palms and soles. The apparent incubation time between family members was 6 days. Thyroid technetium uptake was decreased in 10 of 11 tested patients. Laboratory findings included elevated sedimentation rates (up to 68 mm/h), increased liver enzymes, lymphopenia in 2 patients, and absence of thyroid autoantibodies. HLA-B35, associated with classical subacute thyroiditis, was found in 1 patient only. An etiological agent was not identified. No evidence was found for thyrotoxicosis factitia. After 10 months, all patients were euthyroid, without a goiter or thyroid autoantibodies. Thus, a new variant of thyroiditis, atypical subacute thyroiditis, was probably the cause of this unusual outbreak. It is unclear at present if this variant of thyroiditis is common in communities and represents a separate disease entity.
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PMID:An outbreak of thyrotoxicosis due to atypical subacute thyroiditis. 229 55

Studies in animal models of spontaneous Hashimoto's autoimmune thyroiditis (HT) show that prophylactic treatment with levothyroxine (LT4) can reduce incidence and degree of lymphocytic infiltration in HT. The aim of the present study was to clarify whether there is a benefit of prophylactic treatment with LT4 in patients with euthyroid HT with respect to the progression of the autoimmune process. Twenty-one patients with euthyroid HT were checked for thyroid function (thyrotropin [TSH], free triiodothyronine [FT3], free thyroxine [FT4]), thyroid volume, antibodies (thyroglobulin [Tg-Ab], thyroid peroxidase [TPO-Ab]), and lymphocyte subsets. Peripheral (PBL) and thyroid-derived lymphocytes (TL) were analyzed by triple color flow cytometry. One-half of the patients with euthyroid HT were treated with LT4 for 1 year (n = 10). The other half (n = 11) were never treated with LT4. TL were obtained by fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). Thirteen healthy subjects (C) without medical history of thyroid disease served as controls concerning PBL, and patients with non-toxic nodular goiter (NG; n = 10) served as controls concerning TL. Thyroid-derived T-helper cells were found more frequently in euthyroid patients with HT compared to patients with NG (p < 0.01). After 1 year of therapy with LT4, TPO-Abs and B lymphocytes decreased significantly only in the treated group of euthyroid patients with HT (p < 0.05). In contrast, TPO-Abs levels did not change or even increased in untreated euthyroid patients with HT. Thyroid volume did not differ before and after therapy. Prophylactic treatment of euthyroid patients with HT reduced both serological and cellular markers of autoimmune thyroiditis. Therefore, prophylactic LT4 treatment might be useful to stop the progression or even manifestation of the disease. However, the long-term clinical benefit of prophylactic LT4 therapy in euthyroid patients with HT is yet to be established.
Thyroid 2001 Mar
PMID:One-year prophylactic treatment of euthyroid Hashimoto's thyroiditis patients with levothyroxine: is there a benefit? 1132 16