title: Thyroid autoantibodies: a good marker for the study of symptomless autoimmune thyroiditis.
abstract: In 3737 subjects without clinically thyroid disorders we evaluated the incidence of thyroid microsomal and thyroglobulin antibodies. These autoantibodies were found in 7% of a normal population, in 9% of patients with various non-autoimmune diseases, and in 11-16% of groups who either had or were at risk for autoimmune diseases: patients with IDDM, vitiligo, alopecia areata, idiopathic hypoparathyroidism, Addison's disease, and first-degree relatives of IDDM patients. Functional thyroid evaluation with TRH test was performed in 197 seropositive subjects and 144 seronegative controls. One-quarter (26%) of the subjects with thyroid autoantibodies showed functional abnormalities on TRH testing, whereas only 2.8% of the 144 seronegative controls showed subclinical hypothyroidism. After an observation period of 12-44 months, 102 persistently seropositive subjects were reassessed and 31% of them showed an impairment in TRH test response.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008861:Microsomes / Q000276:immunology; D013954:Thyroglobulin / Q000276:immunology; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000276:immunology*; D013967:Thyroiditis, Autoimmune / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D013954:Thyroglobulin