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PERIPHERAL K CELLS IN GRAVES’DISEASE AND HASHIMOTO'S THYROIDITIS IN RELATION TO CIRCULATING IMMUNE COMPLEXES
Author(s) -
ENDO Y.,
ARATAKE Y.,
YAMAMOTO I.,
NAKAGAWA H.,
KURIBAYASHI T.,
OHTAKI S.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
clinical endocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1365-2265
pISSN - 0300-0664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2265.1983.tb03201.x
Subject(s) - thyroiditis , peripheral , immune system , medicine , endocrinology , thyroid , autoimmune disease , graves' disease , autoimmune thyroiditis , receptor , immunology , disease
SUMMARY A plaque assay was employed to quantify the number of peripheral K cells in autoimmune thyroid diseases. The percentages of peripheral K cells determined were 3·1 ± 2·2% and 3·3 ± 1·3% (mean ± SD) in forty‐one patients with Graves’disease and twenty‐two patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, respectively, which were significantly lower than 5·3 ± 2·5% in 22 normal subjects. Circulating immune complexes (ICs) were measured by three different methods. The positivity of these ICs was investigated in relation to the level of peripheral K cells. The percentage of peripheral K cells in the patients positive for ICs was found to be lower than that in the patients negative for any ICs. Moreover, it was observed that the number of detectable K cells from a normal subject was significantly decreased by incubating the K cells with sera of patients positive for ICs. These results suggest that the decrease of peripheral K cells in the patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases may be due to saturation of K cell Fc receptors by binding ICs.