Every client's blood work, in one place.

Hashimoto's Antibody Pattern

Raised TPO antibodies, the usual laboratory sign of thyroid autoimmunity, read regardless of TSH.

What this pattern is

This pattern describes raised thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO) in the client's results, the usual laboratory sign of thyroid autoimmunity. In Hashimoto's thyroiditis TPO antibodies are positive in over 90% of cases and thyroglobulin antibodies (TG) in 50% to 80%.¹ The pattern is read regardless of TSH, because antibodies can be raised while thyroid hormones are still normal.² Sera counts TPO as raised above 34 IU/mL, the top of its band. TG is shown alongside but does not trigger the pattern alone, because laboratories define a positive TG very differently, from 4 to 115 IU/mL.⁴⁶

What it means

Thyroid antibodies are far more common than thyroid failure, and many more people test positive than ever develop hypothyroidism.³ TPO antibodies are a recognised risk factor for progressing to overt hypothyroidism over time.³ The main limit is the assay. The newer Roche TPO kit counts a result as positive from 20 IU/mL rather than 34, so a TPO between those numbers can be positive on the client's own report and still not match here.⁵ Compare a borderline result with the cut-off printed by the issuing laboratory. This is observational pattern-matching across the client's results, not a diagnosis.