Scintigraphic features of autoimmune thyroiditis

The term autoimmune thyroiditis encompasses multiple inflammatory conditions of the thyroid gland, each with variable clinical manifestations. The more acute forms, silent (painless) thyroiditis and postpartum thyroiditis, are associated with transient hyperthyroidism and are sometimes mistaken for Graves disease. The chronic form, Hashimoto thyroiditis (chronic autoimmune thyroiditis), results in goiter and eventual hypothyroidism unless it is recognized and treated promptly. Thyroid uptake measurements and scintigraphic findings (usually obtained with technetium-99m or iodine-123) play a complementary role along with thyroid function testing in differentiating autoimmune thyroiditis from other thyroid diseases, thereby influencing treatment. In some cases, histologic evaluation of biopsy specimens is required to yield the definitive diagnosis. Knowledge of the entire spectrum of these disorders is essential for appropriate case management.

Parathyroid hormone-related protein: evidence for isoform- and tissue-specific posttranslational processing

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) is expressed by malignant tumors and leads to the syndrome of humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy. It is also expressed by a wide variety of nonmalignant tissues, in which it appears to play distinct paracrine and/or autocrine roles. The human PTHrP gene encodes three cDNA-predicted initial translational products of 139, 141, and 173 amino acids. Most human cell lines contain mRNAs encoding all three PTHrP isoforms. The physiological rationale for the existence of these three highly similar transcripts is unknown. In order to determine whether the protein products derived from these three transcripts differ, we transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and rat insulinoma (RIN) cells individually with cDNAs encoding human PTHrP(1-139), PTHrP(1-141), and PTHrP(1-173). Cell extracts and conditioned medium were then chromatographed using reversed-phase HPLC and analyzed using region-specific PTHrP immunoassays. As we had previously observed in SKRC-1 (renal cell carcinoma) and RIN(1-141) cells, multiple amino-terminal PTHrP species as well as a separate midregion PTHrP species were identified in all six cell lines. In addition, both CHO and RIN cell lines transfected with the PTHrP(1-139) construct contained a previously unrecognized carboxy-terminal fragment that reacted with a PTHrP(109-138) antiserum. This carboxy-terminal fragment was physically distinct from the midregion fragment discovered earlier and was also present in conditioned medium, indicating that it is a secretory form, rather than a biosynthetic intermediate or a degradation product.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)