Abstract
Twenty chronic hepatitis C patients with baseline levels of thyroid hormones, antithyroglobulin, and antimicrosomal antibodies within the normal range were monitored by thyroid testing during a 26-week treatment with interferon-alpha2a (IFN-alpha2a). The present study was aimed at retrospectively analyzing thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor antibodies, employing stored serum samples obtained from these patients at baseline, at 12 weeks, and at the end of IFN-alpha2a treatment. Ten patients (group A) received IFN-alpha2a at a total dose of 474 million units (MU), and 10 patients (group B) at a total dose of 774 MU. None of the patients produced antithyroglobulin and antimicrosomal antibodies. Two patients in group A exhibited elevated TSH levels without free thyroid hormone alterations while on the treatment. At baseline, 1 patient in group A had a positive TSH binding inhibitory immunoglobulin, and 1 patient in group B was positive for thyroid-stimulating antibody at the end of treatment. Both patients remained euthyroid throughout the treatment. Treatment with IFN-alpha2a may infrequently induce the production of TSH receptor antibodies in chronic hepatitis C patients provided preexisting autoimmune thyroid disease is precluded.
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