Hara Hideo, Morita Yoshio, Sato Ryuji, Ban Yoshio
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo 142-8666, Japan.
Endocr J. 2002 Jun;49(3):343-7. doi: 10.1507/endocrj.49.343.
The Fas/Fas ligand system induces apoptosis, while soluble Fas (sFas) blocks the system and soluble Fas ligand (sFasL) functions to induce apoptosis. The assay of nuclear matrix protein (NMP) released from dead or dying cells can be used to quantitate cell death. Therefore, we evaluated the relationship among serum levels of NMP, sFas, and sFasL in patients with Graves' disease. We measured serum levels of sFas, sFasL, NMP, thyroid hormones and TSH receptor antibody in 20 normal control subjects (5 men, 15 women; mean age, 44.3 years), 32 patients with untreated Graves' disease (4 men, 28 women; mean age, 44.1 years), and 10 patients with Graves' disease treated by methimazole (3 men, 7 women; mean age 39.2 years). Serum NMP was significantly lower (10.4 +/- 4.3 IU/ml, p < 0.02) in patients with untreated Graves' disease than in patients with treated Graves' disease (16.4 +/- 7.3 IU/ml) and control subjects (15.3 +/- 8.9 IU/ml). Serum sFas and sFasL were significantly higher in patients with untreated Graves' disease than in patients with treated Graves' disease and in control subjects. In the patient groups with Graves' disease, serum NMP was negatively correlated with sFas (r = -0.612, p < 0.001) and serum sFas was positively correlated with FT4 (r = 0.360, p < 0.05) and TRAb (r = 0.384, p < 0.05). Serum NMP was correlated with sFas. These results suggest that serum NMP is decreased in patients with untreated Graves' disease, and that cell death or apoptosis in patients with Graves' disease is affected by soluble Fas under the influence of thyroid function.
Fas/Fas配体系统可诱导细胞凋亡，而可溶性Fas（sFas）可阻断该系统，可溶性Fas配体（sFasL）则具有诱导细胞凋亡的功能。对死亡或濒死细胞释放的核基质蛋白（NMP）进行检测可用于定量细胞死亡。因此，我们评估了格雷夫斯病患者血清中NMP、sFas和sFasL水平之间的关系。我们测定了20名正常对照者（5名男性，15名女性；平均年龄44.3岁）、32名未经治疗的格雷夫斯病患者（4名男性，28名女性；平均年龄44.1岁）和10名接受甲巯咪唑治疗的格雷夫斯病患者（3名男性，7名女性；平均年龄39.2岁）的血清sFas、sFasL、NMP、甲状腺激素和促甲状腺素受体抗体水平。未经治疗的格雷夫斯病患者血清NMP水平（10.4±4.3 IU/ml，p<0.02）显著低于接受治疗的格雷夫斯病患者（16.4±7.3 IU/ml）和对照者（15.3±8.9 IU/ml）。未经治疗的格雷夫斯病患者血清sFas和sFasL水平显著高于接受治疗的格雷夫斯病患者和对照者。在格雷夫斯病患者组中，血清NMP与sFas呈负相关（r=-0.612，p<0.001），血清sFas与游离甲状腺素（FT4）呈正相关（r=0.360，p<0.05），与促甲状腺素受体抗体（TRAb）呈正相关（r=0.384，p<0.05）。血清NMP与sFas相关。这些结果表明，未经治疗的格雷夫斯病患者血清NMP水平降低，且格雷夫斯病患者的细胞死亡或凋亡在甲状腺功能的影响下受可溶性Fas的影响。
