Decrease of concanavalin-A activated and short lived suppressor T cell function in thyrotoxicosis.

Function of short lived and concanavalin-A activated suppressor T cells of peripheral blood was studied in patients with thyrotoxicosis and normal individuals. It was found that the activity of short lived and concanavalin-A activated suppressort T cells decreased in untreated patients. Function of concanavalin-A activated suppressor cells relatively increased in euthyroid stage induced by methimazole treatment but failed to reach the normal level. Both the short lived and Concanavalin-A activated suppressor cell activity proved to be in inverse relationships with titres of anti-thyroglobulin antibodies and transformation indices to human thyroglobulin. These findings suggest a possible role of suppressor T cell function in the pathogenesis of Graves' disease.