ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1591196
This article is part of the Research TopicAutoimmune Diseases: from molecular mechanisms to therapy developmentView all 19 articles
Constructing the optimal experimental autoimmune thyroiditis mouse model using porcine thyroglobulin
Provisionally accepted
- 1Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- 2South District of Guang'anmen Hospital, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- 3Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 4Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, Jilin Province, China
- 5China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings Co Limited, Guangdong e-fong Pharmaceutical CO., LTD, Foshan, Guangdong, China
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Autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of the thyroid gland and elevated levels of specific antibodies. Its incidence has been increasing annually, yet there is still no standardized animal model that closely mimics human AIT and meets research requirements. In the context of unclear pathogenesis and a lack of targeted immunotherapies for AIT, researchers continue to invest significant time in developing suitable animal models. This study aims to systematically compare the pathological and immunological effects of different immunization conditions (antigen dose, frequency, and administration methods) on experimental AIT models using NOD/LtJ mice, with the goal of providing an optimal model foundation for elucidating the pathogenesis and developing treatments for AIT. Through subcutaneous injection of porcine thyroglobulin (pTg) and intravenous tail vein injection of pTg in NOD/LtJ mice, we found that high-dose antigen (200 μg pTg) combined with high-frequency (three immunizations) subcutaneous and intravenous injections significantly induced thyroid lymphocyte infiltration and elevated serum TPO Ab and TG Ab levels, showing the most pronounced changes compared to other groups. This method also promoted the activation of thyroid immune cytokines and inflammasomes. In conclusion, after balancing operational feasibility, pathological reproducibility, and immunological specificity, we recommend the immunization conditions of subcutaneous and intravenous tail injection of 200 μg pTg three times as the optimal modeling protocol. This finding can help research teams select the best model protocol in a shorter time, significantly improve experimental efficiency, and reduce the use of experimental animals, offering substantial scientific significance and potential medical value.
Keywords: autoimmune thyroiditis, experimental autoimmune thyroiditis, NOD/Ltj mice, animal model construction, molecular mechanism
Received: 10 Mar 2025; Accepted: 08 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Zhang, Jin, Meng, Luo, Han and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiao-Tong Yu, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
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