Autoanti-thyroglobulin production in obese chickens: influence of age and sex as measured by ELISA.
The kinetics of serum autoantibody production against thyroglobulin (Tg) was examined in two strains of chicken using an enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Both strains are homozygous for the B13 haplotype. The OS strain develops spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis at several weeks of age while the Sp. C strain, which serves as the control for the OS strain, has virtually undetectable autoantibody levels as determined by hemagglutination assay (HA). Serum autoantibody levels in both strains were monitored bi-weekly from 6 through 14 weeks of age post-hatching, using both the ELISA and HA techniques. With the more sensitive ELISA, absolute serum autoantibody concentrations were determined and both the Sp. C and OS strains were found to have readily detectable serum autoantibodies against Tg; however, the OS did have significantly higher autoantibody levels than the Sp. C strain. In the latter strain, autoantibodies increased significantly with age while the pattern was somewhat reversed in the OS strain. The ELISA revealed that the decline of Tg autoantibodies with age in the OS strain was restricted primarily to males, with females maintaining constant levels of autoantibodies. In contrast, the HA detected only the differences in autoantibody levels between the OS and Sp. C strains.
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000276:immunology; D012737:Sex Factors; D013954:Thyroglobulin / Q000276:immunology*; D013967:Thyroiditis, Autoimmune / Q000276:immunology*
D001323:Autoantibodies; D013954:Thyroglobulin