Clinical usefulness of thyroid autoantibodies in patients with Graves' disease

ABSTRACT

The prevalence of thyroid antibodies varies with the population studied. It has been suggested that the presence of anti-thyroid microsomal (TMAb)/thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAB) may predict clinical parameters including anti-thyroid drug therapy outcome in Graves' disease. Commercially available kits were used to measure anti-TPO and Tgab titres. Antibody titres were compared in the following clinical groups newly diagnosed (n=21), treated with radioactive iodine (n=2), remission (n=22), relapse (n=27), chronic (n=44). Anti-thyroglobulin antibodies were present in 10.3 percent (10/97) of the patients with titres ranging from 40 to 320 with a geometric mean titre of 80. Ant-TPO antibodies were found in 49.4 percent (48/97) with titres ranging from 100 to 102, 400 and a geometric mean titre of 1,800. The presence and titres of thyroid antibodies did not correlate with age at diagnosis, duration of disease, cardiac complications, other concommitant autoimmune diseases, antithyroid drug therapy or the relapse or remission rate. The results of this study did not indicate any clinical usefulness of thyroglobulin and thyroid peroxidase beyond diagnosis in Graves' disease.(AU)