HORMONES, CYTOKINES AND MACROGLOBULINES IN BLOOD OF WOMEN WITH AUTOIMMUNE THYROID DISEASES

Aim. To study proportions of hormones, cytokines and macroglobulins in autoimmune thyroid diseases. Material and methods. Participants of the study were 28 females aged 43 5 years with diffuse toxic goiter (DTG), 31 females aged 41 6 years with autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) and 26 controls (n = 26) free of thyroid pathology aged 40 4 years. DTG and AIT diagnoses were confirmed by ultrasound and laboratory examinations. Results. Both autoimmune diseases were accompanied by a significant rise of serum IL-6 and fall of TNF-alpha levels vs those in the controls. In AIT interferon-gamma was higher than in DTG while in DTG alpha-2-macroglobulin rose higher but TNF-alpha reduced more than in AIT. Conclusion. It is suggested that an elevated level of interferon-gamma in AIT contributes to blockade of endocytosis of peptid hormones and cytokines transported by macroglobulins. Overproduction of IL-6 in DTG may be caused by deficiency of its antagonist - TNF-gamma leading to an increase in macroglobulin concentration, its gene inductor is the above interleukin.