Department of Regenerative Medicine and Immune Regulation, Medical University of Bialystok, 15-269 Bialystok, Poland.
Cardiology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Endocrinology and Diabetes, Medical University of Bialystok, 15-274 Bialystok, Poland.
Genes (Basel). 2021 Jan 26;12(2):164. doi: 10.3390/genes12020164.
Graves' disease (GD) is hyperthyroidism associated with organ-specific autoimmune inflammation. GD occurs more frequently in adults than in children; however, pediatric patients are a therapeutic challenge due to cycles of remissions and relapses requiring constant monitoring at every stage of treatment administered. Dendritic cells (DCs) are considered to be a link between innate and adaptive immunity. DCs, as antigen-presenting cells (APCs), are involved in antigen presentation to T lymphocytes, thereby initiating a shift towards effector cells. In accordance, DCs also participate in the modulation of tolerance to specific antigens. To date, the data on DCs' role in Graves' pathological processes are scarce. Therefore, here, we evaluated the frequencies and role of circulating DCs in GD pediatric patients treated with methimazole. Flow cytometric analysis was implemented to evaluate three subsets of dendritic cells and their correlation with clinical GD-related parameters. We found significantly higher levels of DC subsets in patients at diagnosis. Furthermore, methimazole treatment seemed to effectively reduce subsets of DCs, which, in addition, were found to differentially correlate with thyroid function. Our study shed new light on DCs' role in the pediatric GD pathomechanism. Further studies are required for the mechanistic assessment of DCs' exact role in disease progression and influence on thyroid function.
格雷夫斯病（GD）是与器官特异性自身免疫炎症相关的甲状腺功能亢进症。GD 在成年人中比在儿童中更常见；然而，儿科患者是一个治疗挑战，因为他们需要在治疗的每个阶段进行持续监测，以应对缓解和复发的周期。树突状细胞（DCs）被认为是先天免疫和适应性免疫之间的联系。DCs 作为抗原呈递细胞（APCs），参与向 T 淋巴细胞呈递抗原，从而引发向效应细胞的转变。相应地，DCs 也参与对特定抗原的耐受的调节。迄今为止，关于 DCs 在 Graves 病理过程中的作用的数据还很缺乏。因此，在这里，我们评估了在接受甲巯咪唑治疗的 GD 儿科患者中循环 DCs 的频率和作用。流式细胞术分析用于评估三种树突状细胞亚群及其与临床 GD 相关参数的相关性。我们发现在诊断时患者的 DC 亚群水平明显更高。此外，甲巯咪唑治疗似乎能有效降低 DC 亚群的水平，此外，这些亚群与甲状腺功能呈差异相关。我们的研究揭示了 DCs 在儿科 GD 发病机制中的作用。需要进一步的研究来评估 DCs 在疾病进展和对甲状腺功能的影响中的确切作用的机制。
