Abstract
Autoimmune thyroid diseases (ATDs) are one of the most widespread disorders of the autoimmune spectrum, which include two nosologies: Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. In this review, we narrowed down only to aspects of genetic predisposition, however, several main conclusions can be drawn: the basic, or reference, level of auto- antibodies present in a healthy person is explained by the deficiency of the central immunological tolerance, but is normally corrected by peripheral immunological tolerance. Determination of an increased level of autoantibodies for diagnostic purposes is sufficient to perform only once. Combinations of a large number of gene polymorphisms with completely different functions, creating the uniqueness of each person, can lead to more or less affected predisposition to ATDs, which can be corrected at the current stage of development of medicine and genetic technologies only by way of life and environmental factors.
Keywords: autoimmune thyroid diseases, gene polymorphisms, Graves’ disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
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