scholarly journals Remission Rate of Graves' Disease and the Trend of Changes in Serum TSH Receptor Antibodies in Prolonged Antithyroid Drug Treatment

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (Suppl) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danilo Villagelin ◽  
Roberto Bernardo Santos ◽  
João Hamilton Romaldini
Keyword(s):  
Drug Treatment ◽  
Remission Rate ◽  
Antithyroid Drug ◽  
Antithyroid Drugs ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
Remission Rates ◽  
Thyrotropin Receptor Antibodies ◽  
Antithyroid Drug Treatment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Receptor Antibodies

Context: Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disease caused by thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TRAb). These antibodies can be measured and used for the diagnosis, prediction of remission, and risk of Graves’ orbitopathy development. There are three treatments for Graves’ disease that have remained unchanged for the last 75 years: Antithyroid drugs, radioiodine, and surgery. Antithyroid drugs are the first treatment option worldwide and are usually used for 12 - 18 months. Recent reports suggest the use of antithyroid drugs for more than 18 months with better outcomes. This review focuses on two aspects of treatment with antithyroid drugs: The impact of using antithyroid drugs for more than 12 - 18 months on remission rates and the trend of TRAb during prolonged antithyroid drug treatment. Evidence Acquisition: A review was performed in Medline on the published work regarding the duration of ATD treatment and remission of Graves' disease and also ATD treatment and TRAb status during the 1990 - 2019 period. Results: Remission rates are variable (30% - 80%), and many clinical and genetic factors serve as predictors. The long-term use of antithyroid drugs appears to increase remission rates. TRAb values usually decline during ATD treatment, but the trend could occur in two ways: Becoming negative or showing a fluctuating pattern. However, approximately 10% of the patients will remain TRAb-positive after five years of treatment with antithyroid drugs. Conclusions: Antithyroid drugs can be used for long periods with an increase in remission rates, and a gradual decrease in TRAb levels, with the disappearance of TRAb in 90% of the patients after 60 months.

Effects of high and low doses of methimazole in patients with Graves' thyrotoxicosis

1987 ◽  
Vol 116 (1_Suppl) ◽  
pp. S312-S317 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Benker ◽  
D. Reinwein ◽  
H. Creutzig ◽  
H. Hirche ◽  
W. D. Alexander ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antithyroid Drug ◽  
Drug Dosage ◽  
Antithyroid Drugs ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
Duration Of Treatment ◽  
Disease Heterogeneity ◽  
Remission Rates ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In spite of the long-established use of antithyroid drugs, there are many unsettled questions connected with this treatment of Graves' disease. There is a lack of controlled prospective trials studying the results of antithyroid drug therapy while considering the many variables such as disease heterogeneity, regional differences, drug dosage and duration of treatment. Therefore, a multicenter study has been set up in order to compare the effects of two fixed doses of methimazole (10 vs 40 mg) with thyroid hormone supplementation on the clinical, biochemical and immunological course of Graves' disease and on remission rates. Experience accumulated so far suggests that treatment is safe using either 10 or 40 mg of methimazole. While there is a tendency for an advantage of the higher dose within the first weeks (higher effectiveness in controlling hyperthyroidism), this difference is not significant. The impact of dosage on remission rates remains to be shown.

Measurement of thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TRAK) with a second generation assay in patients with Graves’ disease

2000 ◽  
Vol 39 (04) ◽  
pp. 113-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Wunderlich ◽  
R. Koch ◽  
W.-G. Franke ◽  
K. Zöphel
Keyword(s):  
Drug Treatment ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Antithyroid Drug ◽  
Threshold Level ◽  
Optimal Decision ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
Decision Threshold ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Antithyroid Drug Treatment ◽  
Receptor Antibodies

Summary Aim: The detection of TSH-receptor-antibodies (TRAb) in patients (pts) with Graves’ disease (GD) is routinely used in nuclear medicine laboratories. It is performed by commercial, porcine radioreceptorassays (RRA) measuring TSH binding inhibitory activity. A second generation assay using the human, recombinant TSHreceptor was developed during the last years. The manufacturer composed this new assay as a coated tube RRA (CT RRA) and claimed a higher sensitivity for GD. Methods: TRAb was measured in 207 pts with various thyroid disorders and 205 healthy controls using the new coated tube RRA (Fa. B.R.A.H.M.S. Diagnostica GmbH, Berlin, Germany) as well as a conventional RRA (Fa. Medipan Diagnostica GmbH, Selchow, Germany): 60 pts suffering from GD showing a relapse after antithyroid drug treatment and before radioiodine therapy, 109 pts with disseminated autonomia (DA) and 38 pts suffering from Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. A ROC-analysis was performed to find the optimal decision threshold level for positivity. Results: We found 42/60 TRAbpositive pts with GD in the established RRA (threshold 6 U/L) and 52/60 in the CT RRA, respectively. The sensitivity increased from 70% (RRA) to 86,7% (CT RRA). The CT RRA found 2 false positives (one Hashimoto’s and one healthy control) and the RRA detected 3 Hashimoto’s and 2 healthy controls as false positive. Conclusion: The increased sensitivity of CT RRA for GD provides an advantage compared to conventional RRA, especially in GD-patients relapsing after antithyroid drug treatment. Functional sensitivity and Interassayvariation of CT RRA are very precisely compared to conventional RRA. Handling of the new assay is also improved.

Evaluation of TSH-receptor antibodies as prognostic markers after cessation of antithyroid drug treatment in patients with Graves' disease

1988 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanji Kasagi ◽  
Yasuhiro Iida ◽  
Hiroto Hatabu ◽  
Yasutaka Tokuda ◽  
Keisuke Arai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Treatment ◽  
Antithyroid Drug ◽  
Antithyroid Drugs ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
Transverse Diameter ◽  
Group 3 ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Antithyroid Drug Treatment ◽  
One Year ◽  
Group 1

Abstract. Clinical usefulness of thyroid-stimulating antibodies (TSab) and TSH-binding inhibitor immunoglobulins (TBII) for predicting the prognosis in patients with Graves' disease after cessation of antithyroid drug treatment was evaluated, and compared with that of T3 suppression test and goitre size. Among 46 patients who had been euthyroid on a maintenance dose of antithyroid drugs for at least one year and had discontinued taking medicine, 16 relapsed within one year (group 1), 7 relapsed later than 1 year (group 2), and 23 patients remained in remission for more than 1 year (group 3). Incidence of TSab, TBII, T3 nonsuppressibility and large goitre (transverse diameter longer than means of the values for the 46 patients: ≥ 4.36 cm in females; ≥ 4.74 cm in males) determined at the time of discontinuation of treatment was 87.5% (14/16), 56.3% (9/16), 78.6% (11/14) and 81.3% (13/16) in group 1; 66.7% (4/6), 28.6% (2/7), 50.0% (3/6), and 57.1% (4/7) in group 2, and 56.5% (13/23), 24.1% (5/23), 35.7% (8/23), and 26.1% (6/23) in group 3, respectively. All relapsed patients showed remarkable increases in both TSab and TBII activities at the time of relapse. High incidence of TSab in patients remaining in remission suggests that a reduced functional reserve of the thyroid, probably owing to destructive changes and/or shrinkage of the gland, may cause impaired responses to TSab and is involved in the cause of remission. Development of blocking type of TBII was not considered to be a cause of remission. Remission was predictable in all patients with any two of the indices such as negative TSab, positive T3 suppressibility, and small goitre.

scholarly journals The thyroid function of Graves' disease patients is aggravated by depressive personality during antithyroid drug treatment

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Fukao ◽  
Junta Takamatsu ◽  
Sumihisa Kubota ◽  
Akira Miyauchi ◽  
Toshiaki Hanafusa
Keyword(s):  
Drug Treatment ◽  
Thyroid Function ◽  
Antithyroid Drug ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
Antithyroid Drug Treatment ◽  
Depressive Personality

scholarly journals Use of the 2nd generation TRAK human assay did not improve prediction of relapse after antithyroid medical therapy of Graves' disease

2002 ◽  
pp. 173-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Zimmermann-Belsing ◽  
B Nygaard ◽  
AK Rasmussen ◽  
U Feldt-Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Antithyroid Drug ◽  
Diagnostic Sensitivity ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
Diagnostic Specificity ◽  
Predictive Values ◽  
Negative Test ◽  
Recombinant Human Tsh ◽  
Thyrotropin Receptor Antibodies ◽  
Antithyroid Drug Treatment

OBJECTIVE: Antithyroid drug treatment (ATD) is used world-wide in the treatment of thyrotoxicosis in patients with Graves' disease (GD). The main problem is a relapse rate of 30 to 50% within 2 years after the treatment has stopped. The measurement of thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TRAb) in serum has been used to confirm the diagnosis of GD in selected patients with a diagnostic specificity of 70 to 90%. However, in predicting the recurrence of thyrotoxicosis after discontinuing ATD it has been of little value. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of TRAb measured by the more sensitive recombinant human TSH receptor method to predict risk of recurrence of GD after discontinuing ATD. MATERIALS, PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred and twenty nine patients with newly diagnosed GD were included. Of these, 58 had relapse of hyperthyroidism in a follow-up of at least 11 months (median 18 months, range 11-49) after discontinuing ATD. In 122 Graves' patients TRAb were measured at the time of diagnosis and in all patients when discontinuing ATD by a competitive radioreceptor assay using recombinant human TSH receptors (TRAK human assay). RESULTS: We found an increased diagnostic specificity (99%) compared with the old TRAK porcine assay. The predictive values of a positive and negative test in relation to the prediction of a relapse of GD were found to be only 55% and 62% respectively when using a cut-off level of 1.5 IU/l, and the predictive value of a positive test decreased to 49% and of a negative test to 60% at a lower cut-off limit (1 IU/l). CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that the new TRAK human assay had a superior diagnostic sensitivity in comparison with the old TRAK porcine assay. Despite the higher diagnostic sensitivity of the TRAK human method, we could not find any improvement of predictive values for relapse of hyperthyroidism in the measurement of TRAb at the end of ATD.

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