Anti-thyroglobulin antibody forming cells (AFC) were generated from the cultured peripheral lymphocytes of patients with chronic thyroiditis. In order to clarify whether this reflects the antibody formation in vivo, the number of antibody forming cells generated in the culture was related to the serum antibody titer in 121 cases.
There was no case which produced more than 10 AFC from 2×105B-cells in the group with the low serum antibody titer (less than 102), while 29.4% produced more than 10 AFC in the patients with antibody titer of 202 and 204 and 65.2% in the group with titer of 802-6402. The average number of AFC of the last group was 31.4 ± 17.7 (SD).
AFC and serum antibody titers were estimated on various occasions with the same patients. A good relationship was observed between these two parameters.
There was no significant correlation between the numbers of AFC and serum antimicrosome antibody titers.
