Expression level and clinical significance of IL-2, IL-6 and TGF-ß in elderly patients with goiter and hyperthyroidism.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the level of expression and the clinical significance of IL-2 (interleukin-2), IL-6 (interleukin-6) and TGF-ß (transforming growth factor-ß) in elderly patients with goiter and hyperthyroidism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Gender, age, course of disease, BMI (Body Mass Index), serum FT3 (Free triiodothyronine-3), FT4 (Free triiodothyronine-4), TT3 (Total triiodothyronine-3), TT4 (Total triiodothyronine-4), TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) and clinical manifestations on admission and other general clinical data and laboratory examination results were collected and statistically analyzed as case group in 128 elderly patients with goiter and hyperthyroidism. Additional 128 over 60-year-old patients with hyperthyroidism were selected as control group. The thyroid tissue of these patients and the control group were examined by fine needle aspiration biopsy. The expressions of IL-2, IL-6, TGF-ß of the thyroid tissue in all patients were detected by immunohistochemistry, qRT-PCR (Real-time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction) and Western blot method respectively, and the statistical analysis was carried out. p < 0.05 indicated that the difference had statistical significance. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the expressions of IL-2, IL-6 and TGF-ß in the group of patients were significantly higher (p < 0.05). The significantly higher expression of IL-2, IL-6, and TGF-ß was mainly concentrated in the thyroid follicular cells of patients with hyperthyroidism and thyroid enlargement (p < 0.05). In the patients with goiter, hyperthyroidism, and symptoms of exophthalmos, the level of expression of IL-6 was significantly higher than that of patients without exophthalmos (p < 0.05). In the patients with goiter, hyperthyroidism and symptoms of exophthalmos, and the patients with goiter, hyperthyroidism without symptoms of exophthalmos, IL-2 and TGF-ß expression level were not different (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The expression levels of IL-2, IL-6, and TGF-ß were significantly increased in the patients with senile goiter and hyperthyroidism, but in the senile patients with goiter, hyperthyroidism and exophthalmos symptoms, IL-6 levels were significantly higher than those without exophthalmos. The use of IL-2, IL-6, and TGF-ß is of great significance in the diagnosis of goiter with hyperthyroidism, especially for elderly patients with atypical clinical symptoms of hyperthyroidism.

Association between transcription factor 7-like 2 genetic polymorphisms and development of type 2 diabetes in a Chinese population.

We conducted a hospital-based case-control study to evaluate the relationship between the transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) rs7903146 polymorphism and type 2 diabetes mellitus risk in a Chinese population. Genotyping of TCF7L2 rs7903146 was carried out using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. A chi-square test revealed a statistically significant difference between the distributions of rs7903146 genotypes in type 2 diabetes mellitus patient and control groups (chi-square = 10.49, P = 0.005). Using unconditional logistic regression analysis, we observed that the TT genotype of this polymorphism was significantly correlated with increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus compared to the CC genotype [odds ratio (OR) = 2.31, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.33-4.04]. Furthermore, we found that the rs7903146 sequence variation was also significantly associated with susceptibility to this disease under dominant (OR = 1.58, 95%CI = 1.09-2.28) and recessive models  (OR = 2.11, 95%CI = 1.25-3.62). We conclude that the TCF7L2 rs7903146 genetic polymorphism is independently associated with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus under co-dominant, dominant, and recessive models.

Correlation analysis of the PNPLA7 gene polymorphism and susceptibility to menstrual disorder.

We examined the correlation between PNPLA7 gene polymorphisms at the rs61754920 and rs11137410 loci and menstrual disorder in women of reproductive age in the Central Plain. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood; polymerase chain reaction-ligase detection reaction and SNaPshot genotyping were used to detect polymorphisms in the rs61754920 and rs11137410 gene loci, respectively. The results for the 2 loci in individuals of different blood types were statistically analyzed. The proportion of the AA homozygote at the rs61754920 locus in the PNPLA7 gene was the lowest, while the proportion of the CC homozygote at the rs11137410 locus in the PNPLA7 gene was the highest. There were no statistical differences in the frequency distribution of genotypes and alleles at the 2 loci between control and test groups. The frequency of the TT genotype at the rs11137410 locus in women with type O blood was significantly lower in the test group than in the control group. Frequencies of the C and T alleles were significantly different between the 2 groups. There may be an association between the PNPLA7 gene and type O blood or a combined effect of the 2 genes.