No restriction of intrathyroidal T cell receptor V alpha families in the thyroid of Graves' disease.
Recently it has been reported that the intrathyroidal T cells in Graves' disease display restriction in V alpha T cell receptor (TcR) gene family usage, although this is not found with TcR V beta gene families in the same individuals. We have performed a qualitative analysis of TcR V alpha family usage in 12 patients with Graves' disease by reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of RNA extracted from isolated, unstimulated intrathyroidal lymphocytes and from snap-frozen whole thyroid specimens. No restriction was observed, with 10-15 V alpha gene families being amplified in all cases. The pattern of usage was similar to that in peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from normal subjects (n = 3) and from patients with Graves' disease (n = 3), as well as that present in the thyroids of patients with non-autoimmune toxic multinodular goitre (n = 4). These results indicated that there is no marked restriction of the unselected intrathyroidal T cell population in patients with Graves' disease who have been treated with antithyroid drugs.[1]References
- No restriction of intrathyroidal T cell receptor V alpha families in the thyroid of Graves' disease. McIntosh, R.S., Watson, P.F., Pickerill, A.P., Davies, R., Weetman, A.P. Clin. Exp. Immunol. (1993) [Pubmed]
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