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Thyroiditis is generally caused by an immune system attack on the thyroid, resulting in inflammation and damage to the thyroid cells. This disease is often considered a malfunction of the immune system and can be associated with IgG4-related systemic disease, in which symptoms of autoimmune pancreatitis, retroperitoneal fibrosis and noninfectious aortitis also occur.
A goiter is a diffuse, often symmetric, swelling of the thyroid gland visible in the anterior neck that may develop. [13] The thyroid gland may become firm, large, and lobulated in Hashimoto's thyroiditis, but changes in the thyroid can also be non-palpable. [14] Enlargement of the thyroid is due to lymphocytic infiltration, and fibrosis. [15]
The thymus was known to the ancient Greeks, and its name comes from the Greek word θυμός (thumos), meaning "anger", or in Ancient Greek, "heart, soul, desire, life", possibly because of its location in the chest, near where emotions are subjectively felt; [31] or else the name comes from the herb thyme (also in Greek θύμος or ...
[3] [4] In all three categories, there is inflammation of the thyroid gland causing damage to the thyroid follicular cells which produce and secrete thyroid hormone. This often results in three phases of thyroid dysfunction beginning with initial thyrotoxicosis followed by hypothyroidism before resolution back to normal thyroid function.
The thymus gland cells form part of the body's immune system. In those with myasthenia gravis, the thymus gland is large and abnormal. It sometimes contains clusters of immune cells that indicate lymphoid hyperplasia, and the thymus gland may give wrong instructions to immune cells. [43]
The elimination of self-reactive T cells occurs primarily through a mechanism known as "negative selection" within the thymus, an organ responsible for the maturation of T cells. [62] This process serves as a key line of defense against autoimmunity.
A thymocyte is an immune cell present in the thymus, before it undergoes transformation into a T cell. [1] Thymocytes are produced as stem cells in the bone marrow and reach the thymus via the blood. Thymopoiesis describes the process which
The thymus is where the T lymphocytes mature and become immunocompetent. The loss or lack of the thymus results in severe immunodeficiency and subsequent high susceptibility to infection. In most species, the thymus consists of lobules divided by septa which are made up of epithelium which is often considered an epithelial organ.