Effects of Antithyroid Therapy on the Long-Acting Thyroid Stimulator and the Antithyroglobulin Antibodies1

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Abstract
Serial tests for long-acting thyroid stimulator (LATS) and antithyroglobulin antibodies were performed in 32 patients with toxic diffuse goiter submitted to 131I therapy and in 29 patients receiving antithyroid drugs. The level of detectable LATS and the incidence of positive assays tended to increase transiently following 131I therapy and to decrease during the administration of antithyroid drugs. Statistical analysis of the LATS changes detected at the time interval of 46–180 days after treatment showed that the differences between the 2 therapeutic groups were significant. A transient rise of circulating antithyroglobulin antibodies occurred in several patients treated with radioiodine, but individual changes showed no parallelism with the course of LATS. No definite pattern was noted in the behavior of antithyroglobulin antibodies during the administration of antithyroid drugs. Twentysix patients with toxic adenoma previously treated with radioiodine and 26 untreated controls were tested for LATS and all of them had negative assays. The possibility that thiocarbamides interfere with the immune response was investigated in mice immunized with sheep red blood cells. No immunosuppressive effect of methimazole was found. The implications of these findings are discussed.

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