Abstract
SummaryThe thymus was examined microscopically in two autoimmune diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus (9 cases) and myasthenia gravis (9 cases), and in control patients matched for age (14 cases). A quantitative method was developed for recording and comparing histological abnormalities.When compared with our controls the significant changes in systemic lupus erythematosus included total cortical atrophy, spindle epithelial cell aggregates in the medulla, increased cystic and scanty epithelial Hassall's corpuscles, and increased plasma cells: two of the nine thymuses contained germinal centres. The features in myasthenia gravis included preservation of the cortex and numerous germinal centres in the medulla. Thus the thymic pathology differs markedly in these two presumed autoimmune diseases.Thymic changes in these two diseases could reflect the result of an immuunological attack — humoral or cellular — against a vulnerable target organ—the thymus — or alternatively may indicate that a derangement of the thymus is a primary cause of autoimmune disease.
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