To Develope An Animal Model For Thyroid-associated Ophthalmopathy (TAO) And Study The Pathogenesis Of TAO

Purpose:TAO is the most common cause of ocular deseases, the incidence of which is at the top place. Recent studies showed that TAO is an autoimmune disease with the clinical manifestation of protrusion, diplopia and edema of the ocular tissues. It will include periocular and retroorbital tissues characterized by lymphocytic infiltration with deposition of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and collagens. The etiology and pathologic mechanisms of TAO is still unknown to us all because of shortness of replicative animal models and the difficulty to accquire the ocular tissues in the early stages of the disease. In order to have a better understanding of the changes of TAO and investigate effective treatable measures, an appropriate animal model should be developed. Until now, the recombinant methods to develop animal models include: (1) injection of synthetic TSHR peptides; (2) genetic immunisation; (3) injection of TSH receptor transfected cells; (4) injection of recombinant multiple...