Autoimmune oophoritis: a histopathologic study of involved ovaries with immunologic characterization of the mononuclear cell infiltrate

Abstract

The ovaries from a patient with autoimmune oophoritis and premature ovarian failure were extensively evaluated by light microscopy and immunohistochemistry. A marked infiltrate of plasma cells and lymphocytes affected developing, cystic and atretic follicles but spared primordial follicles. Immunotyping of the ovarian mononuclear cell infiltrate revealed a mixture of B cells (including plasma cells) and T cells (both T4+ and T8+), as well as numerous macrophages and a few natural killer cells. These findings suggest that a complex immune process with an interplay of humoral and cellular mechanisms is involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune oophoritis.