Abstract
Hakaru Hashimoto was a Japanese surgeon who first described lymphocytic thyroiditis. The year 2013 marked the centennial anniversary of his original description of “struma lymphomatosa;” his observation of unique histologic features, including lymphocytic infiltration, eosinophilic change to follicular cells, and interstitial fibrosis that were described in four women with goiters, were treated with thyroidectomy. His work was published in a German journal in 1912 and went unnoticed for over 40 years. At the time of his original description, Hashimoto realized that some stimulus was responsible for the reactive changes he found, but he admitted that he did not know what that stimulus was. Due to his sudden and untimely death in 1934 at the age of 52, he was never able to witness the impact of his discovery.
It was not until 1956 when a link between antibodies to thyroid cells present in the serum of patients and Hashimoto’s disease was made. Hashimoto’s disease was the first organ in which an immune etiology to a specific disease process was described. Over time, our understanding of the immunologic pathways involved in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis has evolved. We now recognize the association of this disease with other autoimmune diseases and cancers of the thyroid gland. We know that this disease is far more prevalent and complex than originally thought. Hakaru Hashimoto’s initial description of this disease was the necessary first step to our current-day understanding of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. His contributions to the fields of endocrinology and autoimmune disease are immense and frequently underappreciated.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Amino Nobuyuki, Tada Hisato, Hidaka Yoh, Hahimoto K. Hashimoto’s disease and Hakaru Hashimoto. Endocr J. 2002;49(4):393–7.
Savin CT. The heritage of Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto (1881–1934). Endocr J. 2002;49(4):399–403.
Weetman A. A hundred years of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Thyroid. 2013;23(2):135–6.
Duntas LH, Hiromatsu Y, Amino N. Centennial of the description of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis: two thought-provoking events. Thyroid. 2013;23(6):643–5.
Hiromatsu Y, Satoh H, Amino N. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis: history and future outlook. Hormones (Athens). 2013;12:12–8.
Hashimoto H. Zur Kenntniss der lymphomatosen Veränderung der Schilddrüse (Struma lymphomatosa). Arch Klin Chir. 1912;97(219) :219–248.
Ahmed R, Al-Shaikh S, Akhtar M. Hashimoto thyroiditis: a century later. Adv Anat Pathol. 2012;19(3):181–6.
Simmonds M. Uber lymphatische herde in der schilddrüse. Virch Arch Patholog Anat Physiol. 1913;211:73–9.
Heinke. Die chronische thyreoiditis. Frankf Zeit F Pathol. 1914;28:141–50.
Williamson GS, Pearse IH. The pathological classification of goitre. J Pathol Bacteriol. 1925;28:361–7.
Graham A. Riedel’s struma in contrast to struma lymphomatosa (Hashimoto). West J Surg. 1931;39:681–9.
McCullagh EP, Graham A. Atrophy and fibrosis associated with lymphoid tissue in the thyroid. Struma lymphomatosa (Hashimoto). Arch Surg. 1932;22:584–7.
Hertzler AE. Surgical pathology of the thyroid gland. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott; 1935.
Joll C. The pathology, diagnosis, and treatment of Hashimoto’s disease (struma lymphomatosa). Br J Surg. 1939;27:351–9.
Fromm GA, Lascano EF, Bur GE, Escalante D. Tiroiditis cronica inespecifica. Rev Assoc Med Arg. 1953;67:162.
Cooke RT, Luxton RW. Hashimoto’s struma lymphomatosa: diagnostic value and significance of serum-flocculation reactions. Lancet 1956;271(6934):105–109.
Akamizu T, Amino N, De Groot LJ. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. De Groot L J. Thyroid Disease Manager 2012. www.thyroidmanager.org.
Rose NR, Witebsky E. Studies on organ specificity. V. Changes in the thyroid glands of rabbits following active immunization with rabbit thyroid extracts. J Immunol. 1956;76(6):417–27.
Witebsky E, Rose NR, Terplan K, Paine JR, Egan RW. Chronic thyroiditis and autoimmunization. J Am Med Assoc. 1957;164(13):1439–47.
Campbell PN, Doniach D, Hudson RV, Roitt IM. Auto-antibodies in Hashimoto’s disease (lymphadenoid goitre). Lancet. 1956;271(6947):820–1.
Gordin A, Maatela J, Miettinen A, Helenius T, Lamberg BA. Serum thyrotrophin and circulating thyroglobulin and thyroid microsomal antibodies in a Finnish population. Acta Endocrinol (Copenh). 1979;90(1):33–42.
Buchanan WW, Harden RM. Primary hypothryoidism and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. A continuous spectrum. Arch Intern Med. 1965;115:411–7.
Tunbridge WMG, Evered DC, Hall R, Appleton D, Brewis M, Clark F, et al. The spectrum of thyroid disease in a community: the Whickham survey. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 1977;7(6):481–3.
McConahey WM, Keating JR FR, Beahrs OH, Wooner LB. On the increasing occurrence of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. JCEM. 1962;22(5):542–4.
Caturegli P, De Remigis A, Rose NR. Hashimoto thyroiditis: clinical and diagnostic criteria. Autoimmun Rev. 2014;13(4–5):391–7.
McLeod DS, Cooper DS. The incidence and prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity. Endocrine. 2012;42(2):252–5.
Caturegli P, De Remigis A, Chuang K, Dembele M, Iwama A, Iwama S. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis: celebrating the centennial through the lens of the Johns Hopkins hospital surgical pathology records. Thyroid. 2013;23(2):142–50.
Hall RC, Popkin MK, Devaul R, Hall AK, Gardner ER, Beresford TP. Psychiatric manifestations of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Psychosomatics. 1982;23(4):337–42.
Takasu N, Yamada T, Takasu M, Komiya I, Nagasawa Y, Asawa T, et al. Disappearance of thyrotropin-blocking antibodies and spontaneous recovery from hypothyroidism in autoimmune thyroiditis. N Engl J Med. 1992;326(8):513–8.
Radetti G, Gottardi E, Bona G, Corrias A, Salardi S, Loche S. Study Group for Thyroid Diseases of the Italian Society for Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes (SIEDP/ISPED). The natural history of euthyroid Hashimowto’s thyroiditis in children. J Pediatr. 2006;149(6):827–32.
Tomer Y. Mechanisms of autoimmune thyroid diseases: from genetics to epigenetics. Annu Rev Pathol. 2014;9:147–56.
Kawakami Y, Fisfalen ME, DeGroot LJ. Proliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases to synthetic peptide epitopes of human thyroid peroxidase. Autoimmunity. 1992;13(1):17–26.
Kotani T, Aratake Y, Hirai K, Fukazawa Y, Sato H, Ohtaki S. Apoptosis in thyroid tissue from patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Autoimmunity. 1995;20(4):231–6.
Li D, Cai W, Gu R, Zhang Y, Zhang H, Tang K, et al. Th17 cell plays a role in the pathogenesis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in patients. Clin Immunol. 2013;149(3):411–20.
Ng HP, Kung AW. Induction of autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism by immunization of immunoactive T cell epitope of thyroid peroxidase. Endocrinology. 2006;147(6):3085–92.
Figueroa-Vega N, Alfonso-Pérez M, Benedicto I, Sánchez-Madrid F, González-Amaro R, Marazuela M. Increased circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and Th17 lymphocytes in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010;95(2):953–62.
Chistiakov DA. Immunogenetics of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. J Autoimmune Dis. 2005;2(1):1.
Dong Z, Takakuwa T, Takayama H, Luo W-J, Takano T, Amino N, et al. Fas and Fas ligand gene mutations in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Lab Invest. 2002;82(12):1611–6.
Eisenbarth GS, Wilson PW, Ward F, Buckley C, Lebovita H. The polyglandular failure syndrome: disease inheritance, HLA type, and immune function. Ann Intern Med. 1979;91(4):528–33.
Komatsu K, Hamano H, Ochi Y, Takayama M, Muraki T, Yoshizawa K, et al. High prevalence of hypothyroidism in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis. Dig Dis Sci. 2005;50(6):1052–7.
Effraimidis G, Wiersinga WM. Mechanisms of endocrinology: autoimmune thyroid disease: old and new players. Eur J Endocrinol. 2014;170(6):R241–252.
Loviselli A, Mathieu A, Pala R, Mariotti S, Cau S, Marongiu C, et al. Development of thyroid disease in patients with primary and secondary Sjögren’s syndrome. J Endocrinol Invest. 1988;11(9):653–6.
Dailey ME, Lindsay S, Skahen R. Relation of thyroid neoplasms to Hashimoto disease of the thyroid gland. AMA Arch Surg. 1955;70(2):291–7.
Lee JH, Kim Y, Choi JW, Kim YS. The association between papillary thyroid carcinoma and histologically proven Hashimoto’s thyroiditis: a meta-analysis. Eur J Endocrinol. 2013;168(3):343–9.
Larson SD, Jackson LN, Riall TS, Uchida T, Thomas RP, Qiu S, Evers BM. Increased incidence of well-differentiated thyroid cancer associated with Hashimoto thyroiditis and the role of the PI3k/Akt pathway. J Am Coll Surg. 2007;204(5):764–73; discussion 773–5.
Marotta V, Guerra A, Zatelli MC, Uberti ED, Di Stasi V, Faggiano A, et al. BRAF mutation positive papillary thyroid carcinoma is less advanced when Hashimoto’s thyroiditis lymphocytic infiltration is present. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2013;79(5):733–8.
Dvorkin S, Robenshtok E, Hirsch D, Strenov Y, Shimon I, Benbassat CA. Differentiated thyroid cancer is associated with less aggressive disease and better outcome in patients with coexisting Hashimotos thyroiditis. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013;98(6):2409–14.
Freeman C, Berg JW, Cutler SJ. Occurrence and prognosis of extranodal lymphomas. Cancer. 1972;29(1):252–60.
Hyjek Elisabeth IPG. Primary B-cell lymphoma of the thyroid and its relationship to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Hum Pathol. 1988;19(11):1315–26.
Abdul-Rahman ZH, Gogas HJ, Tooze JA, Anderson B, Mansi J, Sacks NP, Finlayson CJ. T-cell lymphoma in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Histopathology. 1996;29(5):455–9.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nagar, S., Angelos, P. (2015). Hakaru Hashimoto. In: Pasieka, J., Lee, J. (eds) Surgical Endocrinopathies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13662-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13662-2_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-13661-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-13662-2
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)