SAT-422 Evaluation of the Siemens Thyroid Stimulating Immunoglobulin (TSI) Assay for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Graves’ Disease

Abstract

Background: Hyperthyroidism due to Graves’ disease (GD) is an autoimmune condition caused by thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) autoantibodies. Autoantibodies to the TSHR can stimulate or block thyroid hormone production, therefore testing specifically for stimulating antibodies would be beneficial for diagnosis of GD. Objectives: The primary objective of the first phase of this trial is to assess the diagnostic capability of the Siemens Thyroid Stimulating Immunoglobulin (TSI) immunoassay in diagnosing GD and to compare it with the Roche TSH Receptor Antibody (TRAb) assay. Design and Methods: Two hundred patients with suspected GD are being enrolled in this single-center multiphase prospective cohort study. Consenting patients undergo biochemical testing including thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free T3 (FT3) and T4 (FT4), TRAb and TSI measurements. GD diagnosis was confirmed by endocrinologists that were blinded to TSI results. Results: To date, 85 patients were included in the analysis, of which 66 were diagnosed with GD. For the primary analysis, all patients taking anti-thyroid drugs (ATD) at time of sample collection (n=14) were removed. The respective sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value (NPV), and positive predictive value (PPV) for TSI was 98, 84, 94 and 94%, which were comparable to those generated by TRAb (98, 95, 95, and 98%). In patients with clinical findings of GD (ie. orbitopathy or goiter, n=33), both the TSI and TRAb assays had identical sensitivity and specificity at 96% and 80% respectively. In patients without orbitopathy or goiter (n=38), the TSI assay had perfect sensitivity and excellent specificity of 100% and 86% respectively (TRAb had 100% sensitivity and specificity). Sensitivity, specificity, NPV, and PPV were slightly lower for both TSI and TRAb in patients treated with ATDs compared to patients without treatment (TSI: 85, 84, 62, 95%; TRAb: 91, 95, 75, 98%). Of ten patients with GD and false negative TSI results, nine were on ATDs. Of this subset, four patients had discordant results between TSI (negative) and TRAb (positive). Notably, one of these patients had normalization of their FT3 and FT4 on the day of sample collection. Discussion and Conclusion: Based on our preliminary results, TSI is an excellent marker for diagnosing GD, particularly in untreated GD patients. The performance of the TSI assay has been comparable to the TRAb assay and correlates well with clinical findings. Discordant false negative results were only seen in patients on ATD. One potential explanation is that the TSI assay is detecting a decrease in stimulating autoantibodies when there is normalization of FT3 and FT4. Importantly, all discordant samples will be tested by a TSI bioassay to confirm diagnosis. Further patient enrollment is occurring, and prognostic assessment of these assays will soon be possible.