Anti-bovine thyrotropin autoantibodies in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, subacute thyroiditis, and systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

We report four cases found to have anti-bovine thyrotropin (bTSH) antibodies, two with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and the other two, each with subacute thyroiditis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The unusually high negative titers of anti-TSH receptor antibodies (Case no. 1, -43.1%; Case no. 2, -34.9%; Case no. 3, -55.2%; Case no. 4, -59.9%) led to the incidental finding of the presence of anti-bovine (bTSH) antibodies in each patient. Case no. 1 was diagnosed to have Hashimoto's thyroiditis and was treated with L-thyroxine (L-T4). With the treatment, serum free T4 (FT4)normalized with a decline in the serum TSH concentration. The other patient diagnosed to have Hashimoto's thyroiditis (Case no. 2) remained euthyroid even without supplemental thyroid hormone therapy and the serum concentrations of FT4 and TSH stayed within the normal range. The third is a case of subacute thyroiditis (Case no. 3) with a typical clinical course of the disease. She had the anti-bTSH antibodies on her first outpatient visit. Serial examination of her sera disclosed the antibody titers to be on the same range over the 28 months after the onset of the symptoms. The fourth is a patient with SLE who had been treated with steroid (alternative day therapy of 40 mg/day prednisolone). Titers of the anti-bTSH antibodies spontaneously declined to the negative level 5 months later. None of the four cases had antibodies against human TSH alpha-subunit of bovine LH and alpha-subunit of bovine FSH.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A Case of Progressive Systemic Sclerosis(PSS) with Silent Thyroiditis and Anti-Bovine Thyrotropin Antibodies.

“…Although the significance of the presence of and-bTSH antibodies in our patient still remains to be elucidated, the fact that such antibodies were found in the sera from thyroidal disorders other than Graves' disease and in a non-thyroidal illness (PSS) supports the view that the bTSH antibodies recognized with the TRAb kit are not specific for Graves' disease alone [16]. Although none of the authors has hitherto reported a similar case, it is interesting that the recovery from silent thyroiditis in this patient was associated with the concomitant disappearance of anti-bTSH antibodies.…”

Precise Determination of TSH Receptor Antibody Activity in Serum Containing Bovine TSH (bTSH) Binding Antibody by Absorption Using Denatured bTSH or Sheep FSH

“…The existence of bTSH binding antibodies has been reported in Graves' disease and other thyroid disease (Hashimoto's thyroiditis, silent thyroiditis, and subacute thyroiditis) by the unusual negative values in the assay of TRAb (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9). With regard to the incidence in Graves' disease 2% (2 of 102) (1), 1.3% (2 of 154) (2), 0.4% (21 of 4285) (7), and 0.32% (8 of 2500) (8) have been reported.…”

“…Although the improvement of the sensitivity of TRAb determination by the calculation using the determined NSB(T) of each test There are many reports of abnormally negative TSH serum has been reported, the determination of precise receptor antibody (TRAb) activity in the TSH recep-TRAb activity was difficult in cases with abnormally negtor assay caused by antibodies to bovine TSH (bTSH) ative TRAb values without absorption of the bTSH bind- (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9). Thus, the precise evaluation of TRAb activity in ing antibody (10).…”

Interaction of Thyroid-Stimulating Antibody with Graves’ Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone-Binding Antibody

“…Evidence has accumulated [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]that anti-TSH antibodies in Graves’ patients (had never received exogenous TSH) have higher binding to animal TSH such as bTSH or pTSH than hTSH. Previously, we demonstrated that anti-TSH antibody bound specifically with the α-subunit of pituitary glycoprotein hormone (TSH, LH, FSH) in spite of no binding of TSH(β) [9, 10].…”

“…Evidence of anti-thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) antibodies in Graves’ disease and other thyroidal diseases (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, silent thyroiditis, subacute thyroiditis) has been reported [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. We have previously described the characteristics of anti-TSH antibodies in the serum of 2 patients with Graves’ disease [2].…”