Nanoparticles in Thyroid Autoimmunity: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications

Autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) represent T cell-mediated, organ-specific autoimmune disorders caused by immune dysregulation, culminating in an immune-mediated attack on thyroid tissue. AITD etiopathogenesis is the result of the interplay between a genetic susceptibility and environmental factors; hypothyroidism and thyrotoxicosis are the respective clinical hallmarks of autoimmune thyroiditis and Graves'disease, the two main forms of AITD. The application of nanomedicine in the context of thyroid disorders ranges from nanodiagnosis and nanotherapy to nanotheranostics. Nanomedicine has been used to develop new sensitive methods for the determination of the TSH, iodine and TSAb. Furthermore, other studies have used nanomedicine to explore new treatments of autoimmune thyroiditis, Graves'disease and also thyroid eye disease. In the future, the application of nanomedicine will be personalized in accordance with individual genetic profiles, thus improving the therapeutic effectiveness and reducing the undesirable side effects with improved patient outcomes.