Immunoanalytical profile of thyroglobulin antibodies

The anti-thyroglobulin autoantibodies are endogenous molecules directed against specific epitopes of thyroglobulin. These antibodies are linked to the autoimmune diseases or the differentiated thyroid cancer. The occurrence of anti-thyroglobulin autoantibodies may introduce inaccuracies in thyroglobulin quantification, causing over- or underestimation depending on the used method. Consequently, their determination is important to validate the thyroglobulin measurement. These antibodies are increasingly used for the diagnosis of cancer recidivies during post-surgical phase or for the treatment and monitoring of patient with differentiated thyroid cancer, while a continuing debate as regard their efficiency. Despite the elaboration of a reference material MRC 65/93 since forty years approximatively, discrepancies between techniques still reported in the literature. In this work, after a physiological and structural reminder of the anti-thyroglobulin autoantibodies, we will discuss the important points related to the both preanalytical and analytical steps.