Cytosolic Autoantigens in Lymphocytic Hypophysitis

Lymphocytic hypophysitis was first recognized postmortem, then by biopsy, but detection of antipituitary autoantibodies by immuno-fluorescence has proved unsatisfactory. Immunoblotting has the dual advantages of increased specificity and identification of the mol wt of autoantigens. Sera from 115 patients and 52 normal subjects were immunoblot-ted against human autopsy pituitary cytosolic proteins. Among the neurosurgical cohort (30), 10 patients had biopsy-proven lymphocytic hypophysitis, and 20 had hypopituitarism secondary to tumor. There were 22 cases with suspected hypophysitis; 47 with either Hashimo-to’s, Graves’, or Addison’s diseases; and 15 with rheumatoid arthritis. Antipituitary autoantibodies reactive to a 49-kDa pituitary cyto-solic protein were found in 70 % of biopsy-proven lymphocytic hy-pophysitis, 55 % of suspected hypophysitis, 42 % of Addison’s disease,