Autoimmune phenomena involving the pituitary gland in children: New developing data about diagnosis and treatment

Publication date: Available online 8 August 2019Source: Autoimmunity ReviewsAuthor(s): Alberto Romano, Donato Rigante, Clelia CipollaAbstractThe contribution of autoimmune phenomena to dysfunction of hypophysis or hypothalamus is far to be unraveled and also the specific pathways of hypophysitis are poorly understood until now, mostly for the pediatric population. Primary hypophysitis is rare in children and often regarded as an autoimmune disorder, following the evidence of lymphoplasmacytic infiltration in the pituitary gland, detection of anti-pituitary antibodies (APA) and anti-hypotalamus antibodies (AHA) by indirect immunofluorescence on cryostatic sections of human or primate hypophysis and hypothalamus, and coexistence with other autoimmune disorders. The rarity of this condition and the lack of ad hoc studies make hard any assessment of the real incidence of hypophysitis in pediatric patients, and also the role of APA and AHA has been poorly investigated in children with idiopathic hypopituitarism. Potential target autoantigens studied in autoimmune hypophysitis have been various pituitary-specific factors, chaperone proteins, alpha-enolase, secretogranins, chorionic somatomammotropin and intracellular transcription factors. Many clinical features both endocrine and neurologic or systemic can herald the onset of autoimmune hypophysitis. Antidiuretic hormone deficiency with central diabetes insipidus and growth retardation are the most significant presenting symptoms ...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research