Thyroid Auto-immune Diseases
- Submission status
- Open
- Submission deadline
Thyroid autoimmune diseases are among the most common organ specific autoimmune diseases. The most prevalent diagnoses are Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, which result in hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism respectively, and are characterised by lymphocytic infiltration of the thyroid parenchyma. Proteins dysregulated in thyroid autoimmune disease include the thyrotropin receptor, thyroid peroxidase, and thyroglobulin. Disruption of the activity of these proteins results in an alteration in thyroid hormone signalling cascades, which can lead to hormone over or under activity, follicular cell damage and eventual thyroid gland destruction. Complications of unmanaged thyroid disease include thyroid lymphoma and heart disease.
Both genetic and environmental factors are thought to contribute to thyroid autoimmune disease development. There is an up to eight times higher likelihood of these diseases occurring in women, suggesting a role for genetic factors linked to the X-chromosome. A key stage in disease development is the infiltration of antigen presenting cells into the thyroid, which may be triggered by inflammation due to viral or bacterial infiltration. Though prevention of disease is not yet possible in most cases, severe complications of thyroid autoimmune diseases can be avoided by early diagnosis and disease management through medication or surgical treatment.
This Collection will present primary-research that increases our knowledge of the underlying causes and mechanisms behind thyroid autoimmune diseases or presents strategies or tools for earlier diagnosis and improved treatment of these diseases.
Editors
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Tommaso Aversa, MD, PhD
University of Messina, Messina, Italy
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Stefano Stagi, MD
University of Florence, Florence, Italy
Tommaso Aversa, MD, PhD, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
Tommaso Aversa is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Human Pathology of Adulthood and Childhood at the University of Messina, Messina, Italy. His research activity mainly focuses on thyroid diseases in childhood including autoimmune thyroid disorders, growth disorders, and obesity in childhood. Professor Aversa has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2023.
Stefano Stagi, MD, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
Stefano Stagi has been an Associate Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Florence, Department of Health Sciences while working in the Auxo endocrinology Department of the Meyer Children’s Hospital IRCCS. Among his main clinical and scientific interests are thyroid function disorders, growth and pubertal disorders, congenital and acquired bone diseases and rare paediatric diseases. He is the author of more than 130 scientific publications, 11 chapters in scientific books, and more than 150 abstracts and conference papers. He is a member of the European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE), the Italian Society of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology (SIEDP) and the Italian Society of Adolescent Medicine (SIMA). He is also a member of the Teaching Commission of the SIEDP.
