Objective To explore the characters of plasma levels of the tumor necrosis factor-α1(TNF-α1) and interleukin-2(IL-2) in patients with hyperthyroidism due to multiple etiologies such as Graves disease(GD) and Hashimoto disease(HD) etc.
Methods Two hundred and fifty hyperthyroidism patients were divided into three groups, including GD group(n=109), HD group(n=80) and other causes of hyperthyroidism group(n=61). Ninty-eight healthy individuals served as control group. The TNF-α1 and IL-2 levels in plasma were measured by radioimmunoassay.
Results The TNF-α1 level in plasma of GD group and HD group were significantly higher than that of other causes of hyperthyroidism group(dTNF-α1 =17.638 and 19.248, both P < 0.01)and normal group(dTNF-α1 =24.460 and 26.070, both P < 0.01). The IL-2 level in plasma of GD group and HD group were significantly lower than that of other causes of hyperthyroidism group(dIL-2=2.668 and 2.975, both P < 0.01)and normal group(dIL-2=2.649 and 2.955, both P < 0.01). There were no significant differences of the TNF-α1 and IL-2 levels in plasma between other causes of hyperthyroidism group and normal group(dTNF-α1=0.821, dIL-2=0.194, both P > 0.05).
Conclusions Hyperthyroidism due to autoimmune disease such as GD and HD accompanied with changes of TNF-α1 and IL-2 levels in plasma, while hyperthyroidism due to high iodine uptake, toxic multinodular goiter, and toxic adenoma did not accompany with changes of TNF-α1 and IL-2 levels in plasma. The plasma levels of TNF-α1 and IL-2 may play an important role in differential diagnosis and therapeutic effect evaluation in GD and HD.
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