A pilot study on inducing Graves' disease in rhesus monkeys

Objective To induce Graves' disease in rhesus monkeys,which would exhibit greater similarity to Graves' patients than previous rodent models.Methods Adult female rhesus macaques were injected intramuscularly with 6× 1010 particles adenovirus expressing the A-subunit of TSHR (A-sub-Ad) or EGFP-Ad five times by three weeks intervals,and sera were prepared from blood samples collected at several time points during the immunization regimen.The animals were euthanized 4 weeks after the final injection to obtain blood,spleen cells,thyroid glands and other organs.Results After final immunization,the monkeys injected with A-sub-Ad showed characteristic of Graves' disease.Compared to controls,all the test monkeys had significant higher TRAb levels,half of them had increased TT4 and FT4,and 75％ developed goiter.Conclusion The non-human primate model of Graves' disease was successfully established,which would provide an ideal tool for further understanding of the pathogenesis of Graves' disease in human. Key words: Thyrotropin receptor;  A-subunit;  Graves' disease;  Animal model;  Rhesus monkeys