The Association of Costimulatory Molecules and PPAR-polymorphisms With Autoimmune Thyroid Disease in Taiwan

Autoimmune thyroid disease is the most common organ-specific autoimmune disease. AITD include Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Although the pathogenesis of AITD remains unclear, it is generally thought that the mechanisms of the disease is a complex disease in which susceptibility genes and environmental triggers act in concert to initiate the autoimmune response to the thyroid.

The initial step of thyroid autoimmunity is the activation of T cells. The activation of T cell requires two signals: firstly, thyroid follicular cells or antigen presenting cells binds to T cell receptor through antigenic HLA complex. Secondly, the activation of T cells is also required the interaction of costimulatory molecules between thyroid follicular cells and immune cells, including CTLA-4, CD 40, CD28, ICOS. PPAR- is a kind of intranuclear transcription factor, associated with adipogenesis and inflammation. Some reports showed that PPAR- polymorphism may have a protective effect from Graves' ophthalmopathy.

The goal of the study is to investigate the relationship among SNP and mRNA of costimulatory molecules and PPAR- , serum cytokine including TNF- and sIL-2R, and clinical characteristics in AITD patients. From the study, we hope to clarify the role of costimulatory molecules and PPAR- polymorphism in AITD.