The results showed that the PLA2R positive rate was far greater than that in thyroid tissues from patients with Graves' disease and nodular goiter patients, indicating that PLA2R is not only the target antigen of IMN but also of HT, and anti-PLA2R-IgG is not only an autoantibody of IMN, but also of HT. The gene discussed is PLA2R1; the disease is nodular goiter.