Endocrine Abstracts

Context: Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is an inflammation of the thyroid, likely caused by a viral infection. IgG Autoantibodies (Ab) to the main thyroid antigens, including thyroglobulin (Tg) (TgAb) have been reported in a few patients with SAT and their appearance is usually transient. We investigated whether IgM TgAb can be detected in sera of patients with SAT.Design: Serum samples were collected from 17 patients with SAT, ten with Graves’ disease ...

Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of Graves’ Orbitopathy (GO), supporting the use of antioxidants in GO patients. Selenium has a beneficial effect, but other antioxidants have not been investigated. Here we evaluated several antioxidants in primary cultures of orbital fibroblasts from GO patients and control subjects. The following substances were tested: Vitamin C (Vit-C), N-Acetyl-l-Cysteine (NAC), melatonin (Mel), retinol (Ret), beta-carotene (b...

Objectives: A sporadic association between thyroid and non-organ-specific autoimmunity has been reported, which could be relevant for Graves’ orbitopathy (GO), an autoimmune disease affecting orbital connective tissue. We investigated whether there is an association between GO and anti-nuclear antibodies (ANAs).Methods: We performed a cross-sectional investigation in 265 consecutive patients with Graves’ disease (GD) who came to our observation...

Objectives: A role of IgG4 in Graves’ disease (GD) has been proposed, although the available data are conflicting. In addition, an association between Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) and IgG4-related disease has been postulated, but no firm demonstration has been obtained. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the role of IgG4 in GD.Methods: We performed a cross-sectional investigation in 351 consecutive patients (F=284, M=67; age 48.2...

Background: Sirolimus is an immunosuppressive drug with anti-fibrotic and anti-proliferative activities. In vitro, sirolimus inhibits differentiation of orbital fibroblasts from patients with Graves’ orbitopathy (GO), suggesting a possible use in clinical practice.Methods: We performed a retrospective investigation aimed at evaluating the effects of sirolimus as a second-line treatment for moderate-to-severe, active GO, compared with methyl...