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Abstract
A good body of experimental and clinical results has supported the existence of numerous
reciprocal interactions among the nervous, endocrine and immune systems. Increasing
evidence has been accumulated in the last years on the interaction between pituitary-thyroid
hormones and the immune system on the basis of either the existence of receptors for
thyreotropic and thyroid hormones on lymphocytes or the frequent immune alteration
in physiological and pathological fluctuations of thyroid hormones. The data were
obtained either in animals with experimentally induced hyper- or hypothyroidism or
in humans with various hyperthyroid or hypothyroid situations. Conversely, immune-derived
products such as lymphokines and monokines have been shown able to influence the pituitary-thyroid
axis modulating either the thyroid hormone levels or the hormone/cytokine production
by thyrocytes. The present paper aims at summarizing the data available on the existence
of thyroid-immune interactions, and at analyzing the possible integration between
pituitary-thyroid hormones and immune factors in favoring the development and maintenance
of both thymic and peripheral immune efficiency. The relevance of pituitary-thyroid-immune
interactions is discussed for its implication in the ageing process.