THYROCYTES EXPRESS INFLAMMATORY MEDIATORS

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 格雷夫斯病是一种常见的自身免疫性疾病。患有这种疾病的患者是甲状腺机能亢进症，可能会发展为甲状腺肿大、眼病和/或皮肤病。我们认为，Graves病患者血清中存在的抗体和其他因子(IL-16)是炎症过程的重要介质，炎症过程是该疾病影响组织的特征。一些Graves病患者的血液中细胞因子IL-16水平升高。我们建议测量并跟踪Graves病患者血液中的IL-16水平48个月，并试图将这些水平与Graves病的临床严重程度和进展(48个月)相关联。正常对照组的IL-16水平也将被检测。抗体将从研究患者捐赠的血液样本中提取，并用于甲状腺细胞的细胞培养实验。这些实验将1)研究甲状腺炎症的发病机制，2)确定潜在的治疗靶点，以阻断导致Graves病发展的过程。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Graves' disease is a common autoimmunine disease. Patients who have this disease are hyperthyroid and can develop a throid goiter, ophthalmopathy and/or dermopathy. We believe that antibodies and other factors (IL-16) present in the serum of patients with Graves' disease are important mediators of the inflammatory process, which characterizes the tissues affected by this disease. Some patients with Graves' disease have elevated levels of the cytokine IL-16 in their blood. We propose to measure and follow for 48 months, IL-16 levels in the blood of patients with Graves' disease and attempt to correlate these levels with the clinical severity and progression (for 48 months) of Graves' disease. IL-16 levels will also be measured in normal control subjects. Antibodies will be extracted from the blood samples donated by the study patients and used in cell culture experiments with thyroid cells. These experiments will 1) investigate the pathogenesis of thyroid inflammation and 2) identify potential therapeutic targets for interrupting the processes, which lead to the development of Graves' disease.