Immunoblotting for the detection of TSH receptor autoantibodies

Abstract

Immunoblotting was optimized to detect autoantibodies to TSH receptors from human and porcine thyroid tissue and to determine their epitope specificity. Autoantibodies to putative TSH receptor proteins in thyroid particulate membranes were detected in ∼35% of sera from patients with Graves' disease. However, despite modifications to increase immunoblotting sensitivity and specificity, only a minority (<15%) of Graves' disease sera contained autoantibodies that identified epitopes within TSH affinity-purified human or porcine receptor proteins. In these sera there was no correlation between the TSH receptor antibody titre, determined by radioreceptor assay, and receptor epitope reactivity. Th..