{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T17:23:21Z","timestamp":1783445001549,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Bioscientifica","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771200000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":1959,"URL":"https:\/\/www.karger.com\/Services\/SiteLicenses"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.bioscientifica.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Objectives: The thymus plays a central role in immune tolerance, which prevents autoimmunity. Myasthenia gravis (MG) is commonly associated with thymoma or thymus hyperplasia, and it can coexist with autoimmune thyroid diseases. However, the role of the thymus in thyroid autoimmunity remains to be clarified, which we investigated here. Study Design: The study design entailed the inclusion of consecutive MG patients and the measurement of anti-thyroid autoantibodies at baseline and, limited to autoantibody-positive patients, also at 24 and 48 weeks. One hundred and seven MG patients were studied. The main outcome measure was the behaviour of anti-thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TgAbs) and anti-thyroperoxidase autoantibodies (TPOAbs) over time in relation to thymectomy. Results: Serum TgAbs and\/or TPOAbs were detected in \u223c20% of patients in the absence of thyroid dysfunction. The prevalence of positive serum TgAbs and\/or TPOAbs decreased significantly (p = 0.002) over the follow-up period in patients who underwent thymectomy, but not in patients who were not thymectomized. When the analysis was restricted to TgAbs or TPOAbs, findings were similar. On the same line, there was a general trend towards a reduction in the serum concentrations of anti-thyroid autoantibodies in patients who underwent thymectomy, which was significant for TPOAbs (p = 0.009). Conclusions: Our findings suggest a role of the thymus in the maintenance of humoral thyroid autoimmunity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1159\/000510701","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,6]],"date-time":"2020-10-06T17:00:51Z","timestamp":1602003651000},"page":"237-247","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1530\/crossmarkpolicy-17","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Disappearance of Anti-Thyroid Autoantibodies following Thymectomy in Patients with Myasthenia Gravis"],"prefix":"10.1530","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Giovanna","family":"Rotondo Dottore","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Endocrinology Unit II, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marenza","family":"Leo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Endocrinology Unit II, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Roberta","family":"Ricciardi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Neurology Unit, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"},{"name":"3Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology, Division of Thoracic Surgery, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michelangelo","family":"Maestri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Neurology Unit, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ilaria","family":"Bucci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Endocrinology Unit II, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marco","family":"Lucchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"3Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology, Division of Thoracic Surgery, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Franca","family":"Melfi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"3Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology, Division of Thoracic Surgery, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Melania","family":"Guida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Neurology Unit, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"De Rosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Neurology Unit, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Loredana","family":"Petrucci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Neurology Unit, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ilaria","family":"Ionni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Endocrinology Unit II, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giulia","family":"Lanzolla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Endocrinology Unit II, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesca","family":"Nicol\u00ec","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Endocrinology Unit II, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michele","family":"Mantuano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Endocrinology Unit II, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Debora","family":"Ricci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Endocrinology Unit II, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesco","family":"Latrofa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Endocrinology Unit II, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefano","family":"Mariotti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"4Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6568-8588","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Claudio","family":"Marcocci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Endocrinology Unit II, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michele","family":"Marin\u00f2","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Endocrinology Unit II, University of Pisa and University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"416","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,6]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"2026070711513051800_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"199","DOI":"10.1038\/cmi.2010.74","article-title":"Thymoma and autoimmunity","volume":"8","author":"Shelly","year":"2011","journal-title":"Cell Mol Immunol"},{"issue":"12","key":"2026070711513051800_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3872","DOI":"10.1182\/blood.V96.12.3872","article-title":"Thymomas alter the T-cell subset composition in the blood: a potential mechanism for thymoma-associated autoimmune 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The effect of thymectomy and thymo-bursectomy on the development of the disease","volume":"104","author":"Wick","year":"1970","journal-title":"J Immunol"},{"issue":"2","key":"2026070711513051800_ref26","first-page":"225","article-title":"Spontaneous thyroiditis in thymectomized and irradiated Wistar rats","volume":"15","author":"Penhale","year":"1973","journal-title":"Clin Exp Immunol"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026070711513051800_ref27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"263","DOI":"10.1016\/0165-2478(90)90070-7","article-title":"The effect of T cell subset depletion on autoimmune thyroiditis in the Buffalo strain rat","volume":"23","author":"Cohen","year":"1990","journal-title":"Immunol Lett"},{"key":"2026070711513051800_ref28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"349","DOI":"10.1084\/jem.20051438","article-title":"B cell-deficient NOD.H-2h4 mice have CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells that inhibit the development of spontaneous autoimmune 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