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From: Dee on 17 Jul 2008 07:58
This is hopeful news. I was just diagnosed with Hashimoto's; and I was
wondering whether I should get my antibodies checked at each blood re-check,
so this kind of answers my question. (My doctor hasn't written it down on my
blood requisition. I have to go back and get him to add some things.)

I'm also curious (although the article doesn't mention this) about whether
any of the tested patients have celiac disease, and whether this would have
an effect on anti-bodies (since celiac is also an auto-immune disease).

I haven't had an ultra-sound done on my thyroid, nor has my doctor mentioned
me having one. This would probably be a good idea, then? Would the
ultra-sound in the patients who showed a lessening of the anti-bodies show
that the thryoid gland was healing or regenerating? I wonder if the thyroid
gland heals, would the patients need less thyroid medication? Or, they
probably stay on the same amount to prevent the thyroid gland from becoming
damaged again...?


"mikes" <prt2355(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:8078be2b-9209-4cde-ae30-92945061b80b(a)a70g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
It was known that thyroid autoantibodies tend to decrease during
replacement therapy. Now this is supported by quantitative analysis.
In average, it takes more than 4 years to see the significant result
(sometimes antibodies disappear completely!).
*******************************************
LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP OF ANTITHYROID PEROXIDASE ANTIBODIES IN PATIENTS
WITH CHRONIC AUTOIMMUNE THYROIDITIS (HASHIMOTO'S THYROIDITIS) TREATED
WITH LEVOTHYROXINE

Schmidt, Voell, Rahlff et al. Thyroid, July 1, 2008, 18 (7), p.
755-760.
Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne,
Germany.

BACKGROUND: A number of studies show that the serum levels of
antithyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab) in patients with
Hashimoto's thyroiditis decline during levothyroxine treatment, but do
not provide quantitative data or report the fraction of patients in
whom test for TPO-Ab became negative (�normalization percentage�). The
objective of the present study was to provide this information.
METHODS: This was a retrospective study of TPO-Ab concentrations in 36
women and 2 men (mean age 51 � 16 years; range 19�81 years) with
Hashimoto's thyroiditis as defined by the following criteria: elevated
plasma TPO-Ab and typical hypoechogenicity of the thyroid in high-
resolution sonography at first presentation or during follow-up and
low pertechnetate uptake in thyroid scintigraphy. When first studied
17 women and 1 man were not yet taking levothyroxine. The remaining 20
patients were receiving levothyroxine. At initial examination 18
patients had serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations
above normal. Results of up to eight (mean = 5.8) measurements
obtained over a mean period of 50 months while patients were receiving
levothyroxine were analyzed. In addition, serum TSH, free
triiodothyronine (fT3), and free thyroxine (fT4) were measured, and
ultrasound of the neck was performed at each follow-up examination.
RESULTS: In terms of TPO-Ab levels, 35 of 38 patients (92%) had a
decrease, 2 patients had undulating levels, and 1 patient had an
inverse hyperbolic increase in her TPO-Ab levels. In the 35 patients
in whom there were decreasing TPO-Ab values, the mean of the first
value was 4779 IU/mL with an SD of 4099 IU/mL. The mean decrease after
3 months was 8%, and after 1 year it was 45%. Five years after the
first value, TPO-Ab levels were 1456 � 1219 IU/mL, a decrease of 70%.
TPO-Ab levels became negative, < 100 IU/mL, in only six patients, a
normalization percentage of 16%. There were no correlations between
changes in thyroid volume and changes in TPO-Ab.
CONCLUSION: Serum TPO-Ab levels decline in most patients with
Hashimoto's thyroiditis who are taking levothyroxine, but after a mean
of 50 months, TPO-Ab became negative in only a minority of patients.


From: mikes on 17 Jul 2008 19:14
On Jul 17, 7:58 am, "Dee" <jlmacdoug...(a)eastlink.ca> wrote:

> I haven't had an ultra-sound done on my thyroid, nor has my doctor mentioned
> me having one. This would probably be a good idea, then? Would the
> ultra-sound in the patients who showed a lessening of the anti-bodies show
> that the thryoid gland was healing or regenerating?

Dee,
In fact, replacement therapy, by definition, works as a replacement or
substitution of a normal thyroid function.
Such medication does not rejuvenate the thyroid gland, rather puts it
into sleep or rest, in most cases permanently.
At the same time, its size is decreased and inflammation subsides,
nodules are shrunk, lymphatic infiltrates may disappear, which are
good things. These changes can be seen on ultrasound scans.



>I wonder if the thyroid
> gland heals, would the patients need less thyroid medication? Or, they
> probably stay on the same amount to prevent the thyroid gland from becoming
> damaged again...?

Usually the dose of thyroxine is gradually increased to an individual
full or optimal replacement level and stays there permanently. This
way, an autoimmune inflammation is kept under complete control, and
the body is provided with the necessary amount of hormones, which are
good things also.



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