Differential susceptibility of strain 2 and strain 13 guinea pigs to induction of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis

Abstract

Twenty-seven of 30 Strain 2 guinea pigs immunized with 100 mug guinea pig thyroglobulin (GPTG) prepared either from Hartley (H) or Strain 13 (13) thyroids developed experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT) whereas only 1 of 39 similarly immunized Strain 13 guinea pigs developed EAT. F1 hybrids behaved like the Strain 2 parent in that 16 of 20 developed EAT. The susceptible Strain 2 and F1 guinea pigs had higher hemagglutinating antibody titers to GPTG than the Strain 13 guinea pigs whereas all three strains had similar delayed skin reactivity to GPTG. The results suggest that susceptibility of guinea pigs to thyroiditis is genetically controlled and that production of antithyroglobulin antibody may be important in determining disease susceptibility.