Thyroglobulin determined in thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsies by radial immunodiffusion and...

Radial immunodiffusion and electroimmunodiffusion were used to measure thyroglobulin, the main component of thyroid colloid, in thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsies. A linear relationship was established between precipitation ring diameter and thyroglobulin concentration by radial immunodiffusion (0.5-3.0 g/l), and between "rocket" height and thyroglobulin concentration by electroimmunodiffusion (0.1-2.0 g/l). A nearly complete correlation was observed between the two methods (r = 0.97). In radial immunodiffusion the ring diameter is dependent on time of diffusion and on the antiserum concentration in the agar gel. In this study, the observation time was standardised at 48 h, and the rabbit anti-thyroglobulin serum concentration at 26 ml/l. The intrathyroidal concentration of thyroglobulin was determined by radial immunodiffusion and the thyroid find needle aspiration biopsy of 45 thyroid tumours with different cytological-laboratory- and clinical diagnoses. It was found that in colloid nodules or cysts thyroglobulin is markedly higher than in euthyroid nodular goitre (13.7 +/- 11.9 g/l vs. 1.35 +/- 0.8 g/l, p = 0.005). In conclusion radial immunodiffusion and electroimmunodiffusion are precise, easy to perform, low cost, non polluting methods, which do not require high sample dilution (in contrast, high sample dilution is necessary for measurement of thyroglobulin in thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy by radial immunodiffusion). Measurement of thyroglobulin in thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy provides a quantitative estimate of colloid, an important marker in the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules.