Increased serum concentration of interleukin-12 in patients with silent thyroiditis and Graves' disease.
We previously reported that interleukin-5 (IL-5), secreted from Th2 cells, was increased in patients with Graves' disease, but not in patients with silent thyroiditis. In this study, we investigated serum levels of interleukin-12 (IL-12) in order to examine the role of Th1-type immune response in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid diseases. Serum levels of IL-12 were determined by a highly sensitive sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 68 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (26 of whom had silent thyroiditis), 74 patients with Graves' disease, 8 patients with subacute thyroiditis, and 27 normal controls. Serum levels of IL-12 in thyrotoxic patients with silent thyroiditis (385.2 +/- 164.5 pg/mL, mean +/- SD), and in thyrotoxic patients with Graves' disease (343.6 +/- 163.8 pg/mL) were significantly increased compared with serum levels in normal subjects (163.9 +/- 66.8 pg/mL, p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, respectively) or in thyrotoxic patients with subacute thyroiditis (241.9 +/- 46.5 pg/mL, p < 0.01, < 0.05, respectively). The ratio of IL-12 to IL-5 in thyrotoxic patients with silent thyroiditis (64.2 +/- 39.7) was significantly higher than that in normal controls (33.7 +/- 13.3, p < 0.01) or in thyrotoxic patients with Graves' disease (40.6 +/- 36.0, p < 0.05). These data suggest that Th1-type immune response is predominant in silent thyroiditis, and that not only Th2-type immune response but also Th1-type immune response is important in the pathogenesis of Graves' disease.
Hidaka
Y
Y
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Japan. hidaka@hp-lab.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
Okumura
M
M
Fukata
S
S
Shimaoka
Y
Y
Takeoka
K
K
Tada
H
H
Kuma
K
K
Amino
N
N
D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D018828:Immunoglobulins, Thyroid-Stimulating; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood*; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D011989:Receptors, Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood; D012016:Reference Values; D013966:Thyroiditis / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000097:blood
D001323:Autoantibodies; D018828:Immunoglobulins, Thyroid-Stimulating; D015848:Interleukin-5; D011989:Receptors, Thyrotropin; C094372:thyrotropin-binding inhibitory immunoglobulin; D018664:Interleukin-12; D013974:Thyroxine