BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus is a highly immunogenic pathogen often inducing autoimmune activation changes and this can often be further exacerbated by Interferon therapy. As HCV is lymphocytotropic, it can modulate T cell and B cell antibody responses, affecting many endocrine organs, most commonly the thyroid. CASE PRESENTATION We hereby describe a case of fluctuating and wavering thyrotrop...

Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) is probably an autoimmune condition although the pathogenesis is still not fully understood. GO is frequently, though not invariably, associated with Graves' disease and it may in fact be a separate disease entity. Ophthalmopathy is commonest in the 30 to 50 age group",2'3 and is more common in women (2:1, female:male), although the female preponderance is not so mar...

Purpose To investigate juvenile Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) signs and compare Graves' disease (GD) course in patients with or without GO. Patients and Methods There were analyzed data (visual acuity, proptosis, palpebral fissure measurements, clinical activity score (CAS), and the course of GD) of 67 children who have been newly diagnosed with GD. 26.9% of patients with GD had signs of ophtha...

BACKGROUND It has been widely accepted that the epitope(s) and/or functional characteristics of thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TSHRAb) from Graves' patients are heterogenous among patients. However, the clinical significance of such heterogeneity has not been systematically evaluated yet. We were to elucidate and find the clinical significance of heterogeneity for TSH receptor antibodies in G...

Background Inflammation of the orbital connective tissue, extraocular muscles and upper eyelids occurs in about 40% of patients with Graves hyperthyroidism [Graves Ophthalmopathy (GO)] while mild eye signs including upper eyelid retraction are found in as many as 25% of patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis and, occasionally, transient thyroiditis. Some workers have proposed a relationship betwee...

INTRODUCTION Anti-thyroid antibodies are associated with extra-thyroid diseases such as Graves' ophthalmopathy and Hashimoto's encephalopathy. Some evidence suggests that anti-thyroid antibodies are also associated with depression. Interleukin (IL)-17 appears to play an important role in autoimmune thyroid disease. This study investigated whether specific thyroid autoantibodies and IL-17 distin...

Thyroid Eye Disease (TED, Graves ophthalmopathy, thyroid ophthalmopathy) is the most common cause of orbital inflammation and proptosis in adults. There is no agreement on its management although corticosteroids and external beam orbital radiation (XRT) have traditionally been believed to provide benefit in active inflammation. Our review of the published literature in English disclosed an over...

Background: Mild eye signs, especially itchiness and grittiness of the eyelids and upper eyelid retraction (UER), are found in about 25% of patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) in whom antibodies against calsequestrin and flavoprotein (Fp) are often detected. The role of T lymphocyte reactivity against eye muscle antigens in patients with thyroiditis has not been investigated. Methods: We...