PERIPHERAL K CELLS IN GRAVES’DISEASE AND HASHIMOTO'S THYROIDITIS IN RELATION TO CIRCULATING IMMUNE COMPLEXES

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Abstract
A plaque assay was employed to quantify the number of peripheral K cells in autoimmune thyroid diseases. The percentages of peripheral K cells determined were 3·1 ± 2·2% and 3·3 ± 1·3% (mean ± SD) in forty‐one patients with Graves’disease and twenty‐two patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, respectively, which were significantly lower than 5·3 ± 2·5% in 22 normal subjects. Circulating immune complexes (ICs) were measured by three different methods. The positivity of these ICs was investigated in relation to the level of peripheral K cells. The percentage of peripheral K cells in the patients positive for ICs was found to be lower than that in the patients negative for any ICs. Moreover, it was observed that the number of detectable K cells from a normal subject was significantly decreased by incubating the K cells with sera of patients positive for ICs. These results suggest that the decrease of peripheral K cells in the patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases may be due to saturation of K cell Fc receptors by binding ICs.