Authors: R M Ruggeri S Sciacchitano A Vitale P Cardelli M Galletti E Vitarelli G Barresi S Benvenga F Trimarchi M Trovato
Publish Date: 2009/03/25
Volume: 32, Issue: 5, Pages: 465-469
Abstract
Background Some growth factors and cytokines are known to cooperate with TSH in thyroid nodular growth but few data are available on their circulating levels in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis HT Aim To evaluate in HT patients whether thyroid nodules are associated with variations in serum levels of hepatocyte growth factor HGF and interleukin6 IL6 Subjects and methods Serum levels of HGF and IL6 were measured by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay in 176 euthyroid subjects subdivided into 4 groups A HT patients with nodular goiter no=42 B nongoitrous HT patients no=36 C nonHT patients with nodular goiter no=48 and D healthy subjects without thyroid disease no=50 Results The highest concentrations of serum HGF were found in patients with nodular goiter irrespective of the presence of associated HT groups A and C Nevertheless in group A serum HGF levels were significantly higher than in group C 8608±3336 pg/ml vs 6915±156 pg/ml p001 Moreover though serum HGF levels in group B 5783±217 pg/ml were lower than in group A they were significantly higher than in healthy controls group D 5127±1704 pg/ml p0001 Serum IL6 levels were similar in the two HT groups A and B and increased with respect to groups C and D Conclusions Serum HGF is increased in HT especially associated to thyroid nodules as compared with healthy nongoitrous individuals
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