Organ‐specific autoimmunity induced by adult thymectomy and cyclophosphamide‐induced lymphopenia

Abstract

Autoimmune gastritis, a CD4+ T cell‐mediated organ‐specific autoimmune disease, can be induced by thymectomy of neonatal, but not of older, BALB/c mice. Here we have shown that autoimmune gastritis can also be induced in 6–8‐week‐old BALB/c mice by thymectomy combined with a single dose of cyclophosphamide (300 mg/kg). This treatment reduced the numbers of splenic T and B cells approximately 25‐fold. However, by 8 days after treatment, the number of splenic lymphocytes had returned to normal adult levels. Approximately 50% of treated mice developed autoimmune gastritis after 10–12 weeks. These mice had mononuclear cellular infiltrates within the gastric mucosa and serum autoantibodies to the..