Autoimmune thyroiditis

"Witebsky helped develop procedures for the isolation and partial characterization of A and B blood antigens. He also began the practice of neutralization of certain antibodies in the blood of universal blood donors.

"In 1957 he co-authored a paper the "Witebsky's postulates" which determined whether a disease entity could be regarded as an autoimmune disease:^[4]

• Direct demonstration of free circulating antibodies active at body temperature.
• Recognition of the specific antigen (for this antibody).
• Production of antibodies against same antigen in experimental animals.
• Experimental animal demonstrates same tissue changes in human." (Wikipedia article on Ernst Witebsky, accessed 8-2021)

In 1993 Rose and Bona revised Witebsky's postulates "based on direct evidence from transfer of pathogenic antibody or pathogenic T-cells, indirect evidence based on reproduction of the autoimmune disease in experimental animals and circumstantial evidence from clinical clues.:^[5]

• Auto-antibodies detectable in all cases of disease.
• Experimentally reproducible by immunization with antigen.
• Experimental disease must show immunopathological lesions that parallel those in the natural disease.
• Transferable by serum or lymphoid cells." (Wikipedia article on Ernst Witebsky, accessed 8-2021).