1910 – anti-TPO magnum

The anti-TPO magnum is a quantitative immunoassay for the determination of antibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPO) in human serum. The anti-TPO magnum is intended as an aid in the diagnosis of autoimmune thyroid diseases in conjunction with other clinical and laboratory findings.

Thyroid peroxidase (TPO), a membrane-bound enzyme in the thyroid cell, plays an essential role in the synthesis of thyroid hormone, hence makes up one of the three thyroid antigens. The presence of autoantibodies to thyroid antigens is a major indication of autoimmune thyroiditis. These autoantibodies target the thyroid glands and its hormone products thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) leading to hormonal dysfunction. Detection of such autoantibodies is an indication of chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, hence a marker for the differential diagnosis of hypothyroidism and the subclinical or latent type. Detection of anti-TPO is also essential in the diagnosis of Grave’s disease, especially when the TSH Receptor Antibody value is negative, but the disease is clinically suspected. Besides Grave’s diseases, anti-TPO determination is also an indication of the exclusion of a co-existing thyroid autoimmune disease, as in euthyroid goiter.

Radioimmunoassays are widely used for the determination of specific antibodies. For this purpose tracer molecules composed of antigens conjugated to radioactive components detect specific antibodies in the patient´s sample. Protein A coated to magnetic particles binds antibodies from the sample and allows for the simple separation of generated immune complexes from the reaction mixture by use of a magnetic device. The radioactivity of the precipitate is measured and proportional to the antibody activity in the sample.

The immunoassay is designed for manual professional in vitro diagnostic use.