抄録
Antigenicity of the epithelial cells of human thyroid glands of 50 patients, consisting of 13 cases of hyperthyroidism, 6 cases of chronic thyroiditis, 23 cases of benign thyroid tumor, and 8 cases of thyroid cancer, were examined by the fluorescent antibody technique with antithyroid γ-globulin prepared from the serum of a patient with Graves’ disease, and identified as a specific antibody against microsomal fraction of follicular epithelial cells. All the epithelial cells of the toxic thyroid gland contained the microsomal antigen, which was commonly detected in the epithelial cells of normal thyroid tissues. The former exhibited more brilliant fluorescent staining than the latter. Six cases of hyperthyroidism showed a brighter fluorescent zone adjacent to the free surface of the epithelial cells. The epithelial cells of chronic thyroiditis contained the microsomal antigen common to the normal and toxic thyroid glands, the fluorescent staining of which varied in degree, depending on cytological destruction. In benign thyroid tumors, the microsomal antigen commonly observed in the normal and toxic thyroid gland survived, although it was lost in the descending order of colloid adenoma, simple adenoma, and fetal adenoma. The epithelial cells of both follicular and papillary adenocarcinoma of the thyroid lost the microsomal antigen of the normal follicular epithelial cells, even though they were well differentiated.
