Sir: Dr. Schleusener et al. recently reported in this Journal (1) that thyroid-stimulating antibody (TSAb) determina- tions in Graves' patients could be useful in predicting relapse after antithyroid drug withdrawal. TSAb is present in serum of many untreated Graves' patients, but the percent of positive patients differs among the different series reported (1-6). These dis- crepancies do not appear justified by the radio- receptor assay methods employed. Human thyroglobulin (hTg) is found in serum of many normal subjects in an average concentration of about 5 ng/ml, its level raises up to >150 ng/ ml in untreated Graves' patients (7), decreases with antithyroid drug treatment (8), but it is found still elevated in those pa- tients who relapse after drug withdrawal (8). Recently one of us (9) reported that physiological amounts of thyroglobulin can interfere in the binding of TSH to human thyroid plasma membranes
Interference of thyroglobulin in TSAb detection by radio-receptor assay
BARTALENA, LUIGI;MACCHIA, ENRICO;MONZANI, FABIO;
1979-01-01
Abstract
Sir: Dr. Schleusener et al. recently reported in this Journal (1) that thyroid-stimulating antibody (TSAb) determina- tions in Graves' patients could be useful in predicting relapse after antithyroid drug withdrawal. TSAb is present in serum of many untreated Graves' patients, but the percent of positive patients differs among the different series reported (1-6). These dis- crepancies do not appear justified by the radio- receptor assay methods employed. Human thyroglobulin (hTg) is found in serum of many normal subjects in an average concentration of about 5 ng/ml, its level raises up to >150 ng/ ml in untreated Graves' patients (7), decreases with antithyroid drug treatment (8), but it is found still elevated in those pa- tients who relapse after drug withdrawal (8). Recently one of us (9) reported that physiological amounts of thyroglobulin can interfere in the binding of TSH to human thyroid plasma membranesI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
