Effect of thyroid stimulating hormone on the production of antibody

促甲状腺激素受体(TSH-R)刺激型抗体(TSAb)刺激甲状腺细胞，增加甲状腺激素的产生，是Graves病的发病机制。我们推测TSAb还通过TSH-R刺激淋巴细胞，并促进B淋巴细胞产生抗体。TSAb模拟TSH的作用。因此，本研究旨在探讨TSH对抗体产生的影响。将人外周血单个核细胞(PBMC)与人促甲状腺激素(TSH)孵育7天。测定培养上清液中免疫球蛋白G的浓度。外周血单核细胞与10~100μU/mLTSH孵育后，血清免疫球蛋白水平升高，与甲状腺功能减退时的水平相当。然后我们研究了TSH对与抗体产生相关的细胞因子产生的影响。而IL-4、IL-13水平均低于检测灵敏度。随后将PBMC与TSH孵育7天，并在孵育的最后一天暴露于脉宽调制。血清免疫球蛋白与IL-13呈正相关(r=0.64，p&lt；0.01)，与IL-4无相关性。这些结果提示TSH刺激的IL-13的产生可能促进抗体的分泌，TSAb可能诱导免疫球蛋白的产生，包括TSAb本身。

It is the pathogenesis of Graves' disease that the stimulated type antibody (TSAb) to the receptor (TSH-R) of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) stimulates thyrocytes, and increases the production of thyroid hormone. We speculate that TSAb also stimulates lymphocytes through TSH-R, and promotes the production of antibody from B lymphocytes. TSAb mimics the action of TSH. Therefore the present study was performed to assess the effect of TSH on the production of antibody. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were incubated with human TSH for seven days. Supernatant concentrations of IgG were measured. Increased levels of IgG were observed when PBMCs were incubated with 10〜100 μU/mL of TSH, matching those observed in hypothyroidism. Then we examined the effect of TSH on the production of cytokines relevant to the antibody production. However the levels of IL-4 and IL-13 were below detection sensitivity. PBMCs were subsequently incubated with TSH for seven days and exposed to PWM on the final day of incubation. A positive correlation was observed between the concentration of IgG and IL-13 (r=0.64,p<0.01), although a correlation between the concentration of IgG and IL-4 was not observed. These results suggest that TSH-stimulated IL-13 production might promote the secretion of antibody and that TSAb might induce the production of IgG, including TSAb itself.