Statin: New hope for preventing and delaying thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy? / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

ABSTRACT

Thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy(TAO)is an organ-specific autoimmune disease. A series of symptoms related to it cause serious harm to the physical and mental health of patients, and then seriously affect their quality of life. However, there is stilly lack of specific treatment methods at present. Even after effective treatment, it is difficult to fully recover the appearance changes. Therefore, it is very important to avoid or reduce the risk factors associated with the occurrence and progress of TAO. Hypercholesterolemia, as one of the potential risk factors for the occurrence and progression of TAO, has been concerned by more clinical researchers. Recent studies have found that statins can significantly reduce the incidence of ophthalmopathy and the risk of ophthalmopathy progression in patients with Graves disease. Based on the inflammatory pathological mechanism of TAO, statins may become a new hope to prevent and delay the occurrence and progression of TAO.