Hashimoto's thyroiditis with elevated serum IgG4 concentrations is not equivalent to IgG4 Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) with serum IgG4 concentrations greater than 135 mg/dL can be diagnosed as elevated serum IgG4 HT. HT can also be classified into IgG4 HT and non-IgG4 HT based on an immunohistochemistry analysis of IgG4. The aim of our study was to determine the relationship between elevated serum IgG4 HT and IgG4 HT.

Both thyroid tissues and serum samples stored before pathological examination from 93 patients with HT were collected. The serum levels of IgG, IgG4, TgAb IgG, TgAb IgG4, TPOAb IgG and TPOAb IgG4 were measured by ELISAs. The expression levels of IgG4, IgG and TGF-β1 in thyroid tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry.

Patients with HT were divided into two groups: elevated serum IgG4 HT (n = 12) and nonelevated serum IgG4 HT (n = 81). Hypothyroidism was found in 5 of 12 cases (41.7%) in the elevated serum IgG4 HT group and 10 of 81 cases (12.3%) in the nonelevated serum IgG4 HT group (P = .023). Serologically, there were no significant differences in the levels of TgAb IgG, TPOAb IgG, TgAb IgG4 and TPOAb IgG4 between the two groups, and the expression of TGF-β1 in thyroid tissues was not significantly different between the groups. Most importantly, the frequency of patients who satisfied the criteria for IgG4 HT diagnosis was comparable (25% vs 20.9%, P = .756).

The measurement of serum IgG4 allows the identification of patients with HT closely associated with hypothyroidism. However, our study demonstrated that elevated serum IgG4 HT is not equivalent to IgG4 HT.