1982 Volume 5 Issue 4 Pages 287-292
The purpose of the present study is to assess the proliferative responsiveness of T-lymphocyte to thyroglobulin in patients with chronic thyroiditis.
T-lymphocyte proliferative responses were, first of all, induced by thyroglobulin (TG)-pulsed antigen-presenting cells (APC). According to the state of serum anti-thyroglobulin antibodies, T-lymphocyte from about a half of sero-positive patients showed the proliferative response to TG-pulsed APC while those from most sero-negative patients and healthy individuals did not respond.
In contrast, even sero-negative patients, whose T-lymphocyte did not show proliferative responses to TG-pulsed APC, showed T-lymphocyte proliferative responses when thyroglobulin was added into the culture medium.
Since antigen-pulsed APC are considered to activate almost exclusively helper T-lymphocyte, the lymphocytes which respond to free thyroglobulin in the culture medium seem to belong to more than a single subset including helper T-lymphocyte.
Taken togather, these results suggest that T-lymphocyte which respond to TG-pulsed APC may play a significant role in the induction of anti-TG antibody production in patients with chronic thyroiditis.
