The Association Of The IL-4 Gene Promoter Region (-590C/T) Polymorphism With Graves' Hyperthyroidism And The Change Of Serum Level Of IL-4 And IL-2 After Treatment With Glucocorticoid

Part one: The association of the -590C/T polymorphism of interleukin 4 gene promoter with Graves' hyperthyroidismObjective: To investigate the -590 polymorphism of the interleukin 4 gene promoter of Han people in Tianjin, and the association of the IL-4 (-590) polymorphism with Graves' hyperthyroidism.Methods: 109 Graves' hyperthyroidism patients and 101 normal subjects as control were involved in this case-control study. The -590 polymorphism of IL-4 gene promoter were evaluated by polymeras chain reaction (PCR) and sequence specific primers (SSP). To compare and analyze the genotype and allele frequencies of IL-4 (-590) between Graves' hyperthyroidism patients and control subjects. To compare the IL-4 (-590) gene polymorphism of Han people in Tianjin with Han people in Shandong, white Caucasians in the United Kingdom. Japanese, Indonesian and Arabs in Kuwait.Results: 1. There were significant difference of the IL-4 (-590) gene polymorphism of Han people in Tianjin with Han people in Shandong, white Caucasians in the United Kingdom, Japanese. Indonesian and Arabs in Kuwait. 2. There was no difference in the genotype and allele frequency of IL-4 (-590) between Graves' hyperthyroidism patients and controls. 3. There was nodifference between the patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy and those without Graves' ophthalmopathy in their distribution of IL-4 (-590) gene polymorphism, as well as between male and female, between patients with positive family history and without.Conclusions: There were significant difference of IL-4 (-590) gene polymorphism of Han people in Tianjin with others races or areas. There was no association of IL-4 (-590) gene polymorphism with Graves' hyperthyroidism in Tianjin Han people.Key Words: IL-4, Graves' hyperthyroidism, gene polymorphismPart two: The serum levels of interleukin-4 and interleukin-2 in patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism and their change after treatment with glucocorticoidObjective: The aim of this study was to estimate the influence of glucocorticoids on Thl and Th2 serum cytokine balance in patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism through determining the serum levels of IL-4 and IL-2 before and after treated with prednisone.Methods: The studied subjects include 70 untreaed Graves' hyperthyroidism patients and 30 healthy donors. Radioimmunoassay (RIA) was used to measure the serum levels of IL-4 and IL-2. FT3^ FT4 and sTSH were measured by chemiluminescence. TGAb and TMAb were measured by RIA. TRAB and TSI were measured by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). All the patients were randomly divided into routine therapy group and glucocorticoid therapy group. The 35 patients in routine therapy group were treated with oral tapazole...