Acta clinica Croatica, Vol. 43 No. 4, 2004.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
The Problem of Thyroid Antibodies Testing
Ljerka Lukinac
Dražena Krilić
Dunja Nöthig-Hus
Zvonko Kusić
Sažetak
Nowadays, different methods for determination of thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TGA), microsomal autoantibodies (TMA) and autoantibodies to enzyme thyroid peroxidase (TPO) have been developed. The specificity and sensitivity of these methods depend on the purity of autoantigen preparation itself, valid standardization and type of the methodology used, e.g., agglutination of gelatine particle carriers sensitized with antigen, radioimmunoassay (RIA), immunometric assay (IRMA), enzyme immunoassay (EIA) or luminometric assay (LIA). Although variable in their sensitivity and specificity, these tests are useful parameters in clinical practice, especially for patients with autoimmune thyroid disease, patients with differentiated thyroid cancer and pregnant women. Among six different methods (A-F) that were used in this study, four methods are based on the EIA principle, and one on the LIA and agglutination methodology each. Comparison of TGA, TMA and TPO values obtained by two, three and four methods in parallel was done on 527 frozen serum samples of outpatients. The concordance of TGA results was found to be in the range from 66% to 83% for two methods and 65% for three methods. The concordance of TMA/TPO results was in the range from 42% to 100% for two methods and 48% for four methods. The results suggest that the thyroid autoantibody methods need to be standardized and we are not yet certain which one of the methods is most reliable. False negative/positive TGA and TPO autoantibodies may cause a mistake in the diagnosis of autoimmune thyroid disease patients. Only an accurate, nonbiased TGA method can provide reliable TGA values that may interfere during thyroglobulin (Tg) measurement changing its concentration in serum of differentiated thyroid cancer patients.
Ključne riječi
Autoantibodies - blood; Thyroglobulin - diagnosis; Thyroglobulin - immunology; Autoantibodies - methods
Hrčak ID:
14547
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.12.2004.
Posjeta: 2.651 *