Effect of thyroid stimulating hormone on the production of antibody

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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.