Three serum autoantibodies against antigens of the thyroid gland were detected by the indirect immunofluorescence in a Beagle dog breeding colony. The anti-thyroglobulin autoantibody was present in 10.0%, the anti-microsomal antigen autoantibody was present in 24.6%, and the anti-nuclear substance autoantibody in 10.8% of examined sera, respectively.
Only the presence of anti-thyroglobulin autoantibodies could be correlated with histologic findings of the lymphocytic thyroiditis in the same colony.