ABSTRACT
Background: TSH binding inhibiting imunoglobulins(TBII) are autoimmune antibody causing autoimmune thyroid diseases such as Graves disease or Hashimoto's thyroiditis, while intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1) is known as a substance expressed at the site of autoimmune reaction in relation with lymphocyte infiltration. The serum TBII activity is used as an index of the disease course and prognosis of Graves disease treated with antithyroid drugs, propylthiouracil or methimazole. The aim of this study is to understand the change of serum ICAM-1 level according to the change of the degree of autoimmunity and clinical course of Graves disease. Methods: In order to study the change of soluble ICAM-1 and relationship to the immune mechanism of Graves' disease, we measured serum levels of TBII and ICAM-1 in patients(n 35) with Graves disease before and after treatment with antithyroid drugs and in relapsed patients using a highly sensitive ELISA method. Results: The serum levels of TBII and ICAM-1 were markedly elevated in patients with Graves disease before treatment than normal controls and there were good correlation between TBII and ICAM-1 level. In patients with normalized TBII levels after 22 months antithyroid drug treatment, the ICAM-1 levels became normal but in the patients with high serum TBII level showed high serum level of ICAM-1 even with clinical remission with same treatment. The serum levels of TBII and ICAM-1 in relapsed patients were elevated as those of patients before treatment. Conclusion: With the above results, we can conclude that not only the TBII level but seru ICAM-1 level also reflect the degree of autoimmune activity of Graves disease and may be used as an index of the disease course and prognosis of Graves disease treated with antithyroid drugs.
Subject(s)
Humans , Antithyroid Agents , Autoimmunity , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Graves Disease , Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 , Lymphocytes , Methimazole , Methods , Prognosis , Propylthiouracil , Thyroid Diseases , Thyroid Gland , ThyroiditisABSTRACT
Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1(ICAM-1) plays an important role in a variety of inflammatory and immune-mediated mechanisms, including lymphocyte recruitment and targeting, antigen presentation and recognition, and lymphocyte cytotoxicity.In order to study the changes of soluble ICAM-1 and relationship to the immune mechanism of Graves' disease, we performed the measurement of a soluble form of ICAM-1 in sera from patients with Graves' disease before and after treatment with antithyroid drugs using a highly sensitive ELISA method.Our results were as followed.1) The serum levels of soluble ICAM-1 in patients with Graves' disease before treatment were significantly elevated than normal controls(p0.2).4) The serum levels of soluble ICAM-1 showed no significant correlation with serum titers of anti-thyroperoxidase antibody and anti-thyroglobulin antibody, serum T_3, T_4, TSH and goiter size in patients with Graves' disease.In conclusion, the soluble ICAM-1 levels reflect the activity of autoimmune reaction and might be used as a index of efficacy of antithyroid drug treatment of Graves' disease.