Synonyms

   TG Heterophile

Clinical Significance

   Antithyroglobulin antibodies can be a sign of thyroid gland damage caused by the immune system. They may be measured if thyroiditis is suspected. Measuring thyroglobulin antibody levels after treatment for thyroid cancer can help your provider decide what the best test is to monitor you for a recurrence of the cancer.

Specimen

   Serum

Stability

   Refrigerated (preferred) : 7 days

   Frozen : 30 days

   Ambient : 7 days

Reference Range

   ≤ 115 IU/ml

Interpretation

   A positive test means antithyroglobulin antibodies are found in your blood. They may be present with:

       Graves disease or overactive thyroid

       Hashimoto thyroiditis

       Subacute thyroiditis

       Underactive thyroid

       Systemic lupus erythematosus

       Type 1 diabetes

   Pregnant women and relatives of those with autoimmune thyroiditis may also test positive for these antibodies. If you have a positive test for antithyroglobulin antibodies, this may make it harder to measure your thyroglobulin level accurately. Thyroglobulin level is an important blood test to determine risk that thyroid cancer will recur.

Limitation

   Anti-thyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies (TgAb) may interfere with the measurement of Tg. TgAb should be measured in conjunction with every measurement of serum Tg to rule out potential interference.