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Page: Causes
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Eighty to ninety percent of cases of Addison's disease are said to be due to autoantibodies directed against adrenal cells containing 21-hydroxylase, an enzyme involved in the production of cortisol and aldosterone.
The remainder of cases are due to tuberculosis, HIV, sarcoidosis, amyloidosis, hemochromatosis, metastatic cancer to the adrenal glands, adrenal haemorrhage, Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome (massive, usually bilateral, hemorrhage into the adrenal glands caused by fulminant meningococcemia,) and congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
Addison's disease can be an expression of an autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome when autoimmune reactions against other organs are also present. In APS type 1, 70% suffer from Addison's disease, while in type 2, 100% do (by definition).
Through these syndromes, Addison's is associated with hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus (type 1), vitiligo, alopecia and celiac disease.
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