We previously reported that allergic rhinitis was an aggravating factor for Graves' disease and that thyrotoxicosis relapsed 2 months after an allergic attack. In this paper, we report a patient who showed onset of Graves' thyrotoxicosis after an attack of allergic rhinitis. The patient, a 30-year-old woman, was initially diagnosed with subclinical autoimmune thyroiditis. Interestingly, the patient showed weak activity of thyroid-stimulating antibody (TSAb), while TSH-binding inhibitory immunoglobulin (TBII) was negative and her thyroid function tests, including TSH, were completely normal. The patient developed severe allergic rhinitis in response to Japanese cedar pollen lasting from February until April in 1995 with an increase in serum antigen-specific immunoglobulin E and peripheral blood eosinophils. Two months later, she developed thyrotoxicosis in association with increase in TSAb and TBII. These findings suggest that allergic rhinitis not only aggravates Graves' disease but also induces the clinical onset of Graves' thyrotoxicosis.

Expression of CD44 variants in thyroid tumors was analyzed by reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) with a fluorescent image analyzer. Increased expression of CD44 variants compared with normal thyroid tissues was observed in most thyroid follicular tumors, especially in follicular carcinomas, poorly differentiated papillary carcinomas and some follicular adenomas. However, variants were hardly detectable in an anaplastic carcinoma. Analysis with restriction enzymes revealed that the major PCR product, consisting of variant bands, was derived from CD44E. Therefore, the expression of CD44E may be associated with the proliferation of differentiated thyroid cells.

Abstract.To measure thyroid-stimulating antibody (TSAb) in sera from patients with Graves' disease, we developed a new assay system with using frozen stocks of CHO-K1 cells. CHO-K1 cells trasfected with cloned thyrotropin (TSH) receptor on a 96 well plate were frozen in Cell BankerTM and stored at -70 °C . Three days before the assay, they were thawed in the culture medium and allowed to grow in a monolayer until use. The medium was replaced with medium containing IgGs from the patients, then after 2 h, it was collected and concentrations of adenosine 3'-5'-cyclicmonophosphate (cAMP) were measured.This method is sensitive enough to detect TSAb and it is simpler and easier than the methods which use FRTL-5 cells.

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