Correlation Between CD40/CD40L And Thyroid Associated Ophthalmopathy

Objective: To investigate the role of CD40 and CD40 ligand(CD40L) in the pathogensis of Thyroid Associated Ophthalmopathy (TAO) and to evaluate the correlation of CD40/CD40L and glycosaminoglycans(GAG) in patients with TAO.Methods: Applying RT-PCR technique to semiquantitatively analyze CD40 and CD40L mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) ,mesuring serum sCD40L level by ELISA and serum GAG level by radio immunoassay from 12 thyroid associated ophthalmopathy-â… (TAO-â… ) patients, 6 thyroid associated ophthalmopathy-â…¡(TAO-â…¡) patients , 12 simple Graves'Disease(sGD) patients and 12 normal controls.Results: Compared with normal controls, the mean level CD40 and CD40L mRNA expression in TAO-â… ,TAO-â…¡and sGD was markedly increased;the average level of CD40 and CD40L mRNA expression in TAO-â… and TAO-â…¡was higher than that of the patients with sGD. There was no significant difference in the average level of CD40 and CD40L mRNA between TAO-â… and TAO-â…¡. The mean level of sCD40L in TAO-â… ,TAO-â…¡and sGD was significantly higher than that of normal controls; the average level of sCD40L in TAO-â… ,TAO-â…¡was higher than that in sGD,and there was no significant difference in these two groups. The mean level of serum GAG in TAO-â… ,TAO-â…¡and sGD was significantly higher than that of normal controls too;the average level of serum GAG in TAO-â… was higher than those in sGD and TAO-â…¡,and there is no significant difference in the average level of serum GAG between sGD and TAO-â…¡.As for TAO and sGD, the correlation was detected among the level of CD40L mRNA expression , serum sCD40L level and serum GAG level. Conclusion: CD40-CD40L singal pathway might play an important role in the pathogenesis of TAO, it also might be one of the reasons of serum GAG level increasing in TAO.