title: Antibodies to the thyroid gland and to the thyrotrophin receptor in African and Indian thyrotoxic patients.
abstract: Sixty two thyrotoxic patients, 34 African and 28 Indian, were studied in order to assess the prevalence of thyroid antibodies and TSH binding inhibitory activity (TBI): 45 had Graves' disease and 17 had toxic nodular goitres. Microsomal and thyroglobulin antibodies were positive more often in Indian than in African patients with Graves' disease (microsomal 52% vs 37.4%, P less than 0.05; thyroglobulin 38.1% vs 4.2%, P less than 0.001). Patients with toxic nodular goitres had a lower prevalence of positive microsomal antibodies (P less than 0.01), but not of thyroglobulin antibodies (P = 0.1) when compared with patients with Graves' disease. TBI activity measured by a radioreceptor assay was positive in 43 of the 45 (95%) patients with Graves' disease and only 1 of the 17 patients (5.9%) with toxic nodular goitre. It thus appears that TBI activity is a sensitive marker in the diagnosis of Graves' disease and that there is a lower prevalence of thyroglobulin and microsomal antibodies in African patients compared with Indian patients.
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006044:Goiter, Nodular / Q000208:ethnology / Q000276:immunology; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000208:ethnology / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000208:ethnology; D011989:Receptors, Thyrotropin / Q000276:immunology*; D013954:Thyroglobulin / Q000276:immunology; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000276:immunology*; D013971:Thyrotoxicosis / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D011989:Receptors, Thyrotropin; D013954:Thyroglobulin