Transforming growth factor beta in non malignant thyroid diseases

الملخص EN

Background: transforming growth factor beta (TGF-B) is a growth inhibitor of benign tumor of the thyroid gland, it controls the cellular proliferation and promotes cellular differentiation and apoptosis. Objective: to study the role of Transforming growth factor beta in various non-malignant thyroid diseases.

Study Design: this study had been conducted on 60 subjects, 40 patients with non-malignant thyroid diseases compared to 20 normal healthy subjects.

All were been subjected to detailed history taking, clinical examination and laboratory and radiological investigations total T3, total T4, ultra-sensitive TSH, thyroid auto-antibodies, thyroid ultra-sound and scan. Fine needle aspiration biopsy was done in selected patients.

Plasma TGF-B1 had been measured at the beginning of the study in control and patients with Graves’ disease, follicular adenoma, toxic nodular goiter and non-toxic nodular goiter. Results: The results showed significant difference in the plasma TGF-B1 between the variant groups.

It was significantly high in patients with Graves’ disease when compared with healthy control (24.9 ± 3.54 versus 19.4 ± 0.84 ng / ml) with P = 0.04, also TGF-B1 was found to be high in 86.6% of patients with positive thyroid auto-antibodies versus 48% of patients with negative thyroid auto-antibodies, all patients with exophthalmos had high level of TGF-B1 in comparison to control, there was highly significant increase in plasma TGF-B1 in patients with follicular adenoma in comparison with control (33.5 ± 7.42 versus 19.4 ± 0.84 ng / ml) with P=0.00, but there was a non-significant difference in plasma TGF-B1 either in patients with toxic nodular goiter, or in patients with non-toxic nodular goiter (19.6 ± 0.21 ng / ml) compared to control, P=0.56, P = 0.74 respectively.

No correlation between TGF-B1 and thyroid hormones in all studied groups, P>0.05. Conclusion: TGF-B1 may be used as a biological marker of non-malignant solitary nodule to exclude pre-malignant adenoma from other types of solitary nodule.