Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Traditional Herb Medicine Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Eur J Clin Invest. 2019 Jul;49(7):e13122. doi: 10.1111/eci.13122. Epub 2019 May 11.
Osteopontin (OPN) is recognized as a potent immunoregulator of autoimmune disease. In the study, we tried to explore the association of serum OPN levels with autoimmune thyroid disease, including Graves' disease (GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), in an ethnic Chinese population.
We enrolled 131 patients with GD, 33 patients with HT and 123 healthy controls. Serum OPN, B cell-activating factor (BAFF) and interferon (IFN)-α levels were quantified. Graves' disease patients with high thyroid function at the time of sample collection were defined as having active GD, while the other patients were defined as having inactive GD.
Serum OPN levels were higher in active GD than in inactive GD and the control groups (P = 0.001 and P = 0.018, respectively). In GD, significant associations of OPN levels with thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibody (TSHRAb) levels were observed in women (r = -0.344, P = 0.002, and r = 0.440, P = 0.004, respectively) but not in men. Osteopontin levels were associated with BAFF levels only in women with GD or HT (r = 0.506, P < 0.001 and r = 0.430, P = 0.025, respectively), but not in men with GD or HT.
Serum OPN levels were upregulated in active GD, and serum OPN levels were associated with thyroid function and TSHRAb levels in GD. Additionally, OPN levels were correlated with BAFF levels in GD and HT. The associations of OPN levels with clinical phenotypes of GD and BAFF levels showed a dimorphic pattern.
骨桥蛋白（OPN）被认为是自身免疫性疾病的有效免疫调节剂。在本研究中，我们试图在汉族人群中探索血清 OPN 水平与自身免疫性甲状腺疾病（包括格雷夫斯病（GD）和桥本甲状腺炎（HT））的关联。
我们纳入了 131 例 GD 患者、33 例 HT 患者和 123 例健康对照者。定量检测血清 OPN、B 细胞激活因子（BAFF）和干扰素（IFN）-α水平。在采集样本时甲状腺功能亢进的 GD 患者被定义为活动期 GD，其余患者为非活动期 GD。
与非活动期 GD 患者和对照组相比，活动期 GD 患者的血清 OPN 水平更高（P=0.001 和 P=0.018）。在 GD 患者中，血清 OPN 水平与促甲状腺激素受体抗体（TSHRAb）水平呈显著负相关（女性 r=-0.344，P=0.002，r=-0.440，P=0.004），但在男性中无此相关性。仅在 GD 或 HT 的女性患者中，OPN 水平与 BAFF 水平相关（r=0.506，P<0.001，r=0.430，P=0.025），但在 GD 或 HT 的男性患者中无此相关性。
在活动期 GD 患者中，血清 OPN 水平上调，并且在 GD 中，血清 OPN 水平与甲状腺功能和 TSHRAb 水平相关。此外，OPN 水平与 GD 和 HT 中的 BAFF 水平相关。OPN 水平与 GD 临床表型和 BAFF 水平的相关性呈二态性模式。
