Graves' disease is an autoimmune disorder, caused by thyroid-stimulating antibodies, which bind to and activate the thyrotropin receptor on thyroid cells, inducing the synthesis and release of thyroid hormones. It is a polygenic and multifactorial disease that develops as a result of complex interaction between genetic susceptibility and environmental and/or endogenous factors. Graves' disease ...

Antibodies that reacted with plasma membranes of human eye muscle but showed no binding to plasma membranes of human skeletal muscle were identified in serum of patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy. Rabbit antithyroglobulin serum at a dilution of 1 X 10(-3) to 20 X 10(-3) had no effect on the binding of these antibodies to eye muscle membrane antigens. There was no correlation between antihuman...

UNLABELLED TSH receptor antibodies (TRAbs) are the pathological hallmark of Graves' disease, present in nearly all patients with the disease. Euthyroid Graves' ophthalmopathy (EGO) is a well-recognized clinical entity, but its occurrence in patients with negative TRAbs is a potential source of diagnostic confusion. A 66-year-old female presented to our endocrinology clinic with right eye pain a...

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...

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...

INTRODUCTION The aim of the study was to assess quality of life (QoL) in patients with infiltrative form of Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) during the combined pulse treatment with methylprednisolone and orbital radiotherapy, and also to search for the relation between the results of ophthalmopathy treatment and changes in QoL. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study involved 29 patients aged 25-74 (the m...