[An immunoenzyme method for determining autoantibodies to the microsomal antigens of human thyrocytes]

In order to investigate the role of autoantibodies in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid diseases and for clinicoimmunological control of treatment, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the determination of autoantibodies against human thyroid microsomal antigens (TMA) was developed. ELISA was evaluated using sera from 156 patients with different thyroid pathology and diabetes mellitus and from 54 healthy donors. In parallel experiments the same sera were analyzed by an indirect immunofluorescence method for the presence of autoantibodies against TMA. Comparing all these data, both techniques appeared to have the same specificity, however ELISA was more sensitive than the indirect immunofluorescence method. Another advantage of ELISA is a possibility of long-term storage of microplates with immobilized antigen material without loss of antigenic activity. ELISA can be used for the determination of autoantibodies against TMA in human sera as a routine technique in clinical practice and experiments.