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Anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) antibodies are specific for the auto-antigen TPO, a 105kDa glycoprotein that catalyses iodine oxidation and thyroglobulin tyrosyl iodination reactions in the thyroid gland. TPO is a membrane-associated hemoglycoprotein expressed only in thyrocytes and is one of the most important thyroid gland antigens. Anti-thyroid autoantibodies (or simply anti-thyroid antibodies) are autoantibodies targeted against one or more components of the thyroid. The most clinically relevant anti-thyroid autoantibodies are anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (anti-TPO antibodies), thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TRAbs) and thyroglobulin antibodies. Anti-TPO antibodies are the most common anti-thyroid autoantibody, present in approximately 90% of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 75% of Graves' disease and 10-20% of nodular goitre or thyroid carcinoma.