Serum XXXX in inhabitants of an @entity4759 region of New Guinea.

@entity792 @entity5651 @entity4759 @entity3745
Serum @entity3745 Tg(RIA) was studied in 161 residents of the Nomane region of New Guinea. The incidence of antithyroglobulin antibodies (ATA) and antimicrosomal antibodies (anti-M) was also studied to assess the role of @entity792 in goitrogenesis. ATA were detected in only 4 sera; these sera were excluded from the study since ATA interfere in the Tg radioimmunoassay. Anti-M antibodies were undetectable in all of 105 subjects whose sera were analyzed. Mean (+/-se) serum Tg(RIA) in the 84 nongoitrous (NG) subjects was 163.1 +/- 17.2 ng/ml, whereas that in 77 goitrous (G) subjects was 208.1 +/- 19.8 ng/ml; both values were much higher (P is less than 0.001) than that (5.1 +/- 0.49 ng/ml) in normal Californian subjects. The mean serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in the NG group (12.1 +/- 2.1 muU/ml) was not statistically different from that in the G group (10.1 +/- 1.5 muU/ml). Serum Tg(RIA) correlated positively with log TSH (r equals 0.38 P is less than 0.001). Intrigued by the finding of @entity5651 in some residents of an @entity4759 region and its absence in other residents exposed to the same environmental factors, we evaluated the possibility that the thyroid glands of subjects who develop @entity5651 may be inherently more responsive to any given level of TSH than those of the inhabitants without @entity5651 . However, the slope of the correlation between serum Tg(RIA) and log TSH was only slightly (0.1 is less than P is greater than .05) higher in G than in the NG group. These studies suggested that factors other than thyroidal responsiveness to TSH must also be important in goiterogenesis of @entity4759 regions. We conclude that 1) serum @entity3745 is a sensitive parameter of chronic as well as acute thyroidal stimulation; 2) Thyroid @entity792 and increased thyroidal response to TSH do not explain goiterogenesis in New Guinea and attention should be focused on other possibilities.
