ISSN:
1432-1440
Keywords:
Autoantibodies
;
Autoimmune thyroid diseases
;
Human leukocyte antigen
;
Microsomal thyroid antigen
;
Thyroid autoimmunity
;
Thyroid peroxidase
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Summary The prevalence of circulating autoantibodies against thyroperoxidase (mic-TPO) was determined in 3,000 healthy blood donors (age range: 23 to 60 years) from the Hamburg area. Of the blood donors, 153 (5.1 %) were found to have high titer of mic-TPO (〉 350 IU/ml). Only two auto-antibody positive subjects (0.06%) were chemically hyper- and hypothyroid, respectively. Analysis of HLA-DR specificities revealed that HLA-DR specificities DR3 and DR5 were significantly increased when compared to controls (n=1,863). Comparison of the autoantibody-positive probands with a group of disease controls, i.e., Graves' patients and patients with lymphocytic thyroiditis, revealed a higher prevalence of HLA-DR3-positive HLA haplotypes in the disease controls when compared to autoantibody positives. Individuals with a mic-TPO level greater than 2,000 IU/ml were almost exclusively found to have one HLA-DR3 or HLA-DR5 positive HLA haplotype. We conclude that a high prevalence of hightiter mic-TPO can be found in healthy blood donors. Circulating signs of thyroid autoimmunity were associated with HLA specificities also found to be associated with autoimmune thyroid diseases.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00180105
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