objective Autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves’ disease) is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of the thyroid gland. Chemokines are cytokines with chemoattractant properties for a range of immune effector cells and might therefore play a significant role in the initiation and maintenance of the autoimmune process. The aim of this study was to analyse chemokine gene expression in autoimmune thyroid tissue and in cultured thyroid follicular cells (TFC).

design and patients Immunocytochemistry and reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) amplification were used to analyse the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)‐1, RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)‐1α, MIP‐1β, interferon (IFN)‐γ‐inducible protein (IP)‐10 and monokine induced by IFN‐γ (Mig) in thyroid tissue from patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (n = 4), Graves’ disease (n = 6) and nonautoimmune multinodular goitre (n = 4). Chemokine gene expression was also examined in cultured TFC by RT–PCR.

results Expression of MCP‐1, RANTES, MIP‐1α, MIP‐1β, IP‐10 and Mig was demonstrated in all Hashimoto's and most Graves’ thyroid specimens but very little expression was detected in the nonautoimmune goitre samples. In thyroid tissue from Graves’ disease patients, positive staining for chemokines was largely restricted to the lymphocytic cell infiltrate. Within thyroid tissue from Hashimoto's patients, there was evidence for the expression of all chemokines by thyroid follicular cells, suggesting a role for local chemokine synthesis by the glandular epithelial cells in the recruitment of inflammatory cells into the gland in autoimmunity. The present work also showed that expression all the chemokine genes analysed could be induced in cultured thyroid cells by IFN‐γ and interleukin (IL)‐1α. Expression of all the chemokines examined was not stimulated by TSH.

conclusion We postulate that TFC may play a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disease as they are able to express the chemokines MIP‐1α, MIP‐1β, MCP‐1, RANTES, IP‐10 and Mig that would promote the infiltration of immune cells into the thyroid gland.