THYROID ANTIBODIES ARE PRODUCED BY THYROID-DERIVED LYMPHOCYTES

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  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 48  (1) , 196-200
Abstract
The significance of the characteristic lymphocytic infiltrate in the target organ in organ-specific autoimmune disease is unknown. The production of thyroglobulin antibodies and IgG, IgM and IgA by thyroid-derived lymphocytes in Graves'' disease and Hashimoto''s thyroiditis was demonstrated using 2 plaque forming cell (PFC) assays. The thyroid appears to be an important site of thyroglobulin antibody production but the thyroid lymphocytes also contain many IgG PFC of non-thyroglobulin specificity. Short-term culture and direct thyroglobulin antibody assay on micro-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay plates confirmed the results of the PFC assay. Therapies such as carbimazole may therefore be acting on a localized source of autoantibody production.