title: Diagnostic significance of serum concentrations of soluble Fas ligand (sFasL) in children with autoimmune thyroid disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the study was to assess serum levels of sFasL as a marker of thyroid dysfunction in children with autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD).
  
  
  METHODS
  The group comprised 45 newly diagnosed children with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves' disease versus euthyroid control group: 11 with hypothyroidism (10 girls and 1 boy, aged 12.2 ± 1.9 years), 19 children with hyperthyroidism (15 girls and 4 boys, aged 12.4 ± 4.9 years) and 15 healthy subjects (7 girls and 8 boys, aged 10.5 ± 4.8 years).
  
  
  METHODS
  Thyroid function (TSH, fT4, fT3), autoimmune (ATG, ATPO, TRAb) and anthropometric (weight, height, BMI, BMI-SDS, Cole index) parameters were evaluated. sFasL concentration was measured by ELISA. Nonparametric statistical test and ROC analysis were performed to assess the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found no significant differences in serum concentrations of sFasL between boys and girls in the studied groups. Significantly higher sFasL levels (median 0.26 ng/ml) were identified in children with hypothyroidism compared with the control group (median 0.06 ng/ml, p < 0.001) and in comparison to a group of children with hyperthyroidism (median 0.14 ng/ml, p < 0.05). ROC analysis indicates that sFasL effectively discriminated hypothyroid and healthy children (area under the curve/AUC = 0.897; p < 0,001; sensitivity: 100%, specificity: 73.3%), as well as both clinically opposing states: hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism among themselves (AUC = 0.833; p= 0,003; sensitivity: 94,7%, specificity: 72.7%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our work shows that sFasL may be useful marker in the assessment of thyroid dysfunction in children with autoimmune thyroid disease.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Rheumatology and.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mikos
authors.affiliation: b Department of Pneumonology , Allergology and Clinical Immunology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences , Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mikos
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Rheumatology and.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niedziela
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D015415:Biomarkers; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012372:ROC Curve; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein
keywords: Graves’ disease; Hashimoto’s thyroiditis; Soluble Fas ligand; autoimmune thyroid disease; children