Thyroglobulin antibodies inGraves' disease areassociated with T-cell receptor betachainandmajorhistocompatibili ty complex loci

SUMMARY Wehaveinvestigated theT-cell antigen receptor constant betaandalpha chain genes(TCR-Cf,, -Ca) andtheimmunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain switch regions ofpatients withGraves' disease (GD)using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)analysis. Nosignificant associations werefound withRFLPsofeither theTCR-Cfl, -CaorIgheavy chain switch region loci andGD.However, a significant association was foundbetween thepresenceofanti-thyroglobulin (anti-Tg) antibodies in theserumofpatients andthe 1 00; 9-2kbTCR-CBgenotype (P<002). Also, those patients withantiTgantibodies hadanincreased frequency ofHLA-DR3(P<0O025). Theseresults suggest that genes residing intheTCR chainandmajorhistocompatibility complex loci may beimportant in determining theimmuneresponsetothyroglobulin butnottothedisease itself.