INCREASED SOLUBLE FAS SERUM LEVELS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THYROID AUTOANTIBODY POSITIVITY IN UNTREATED GRAVES HYPERTHYROIDISM IN TEHRAN, IRAN

Background and Serum soluble Fas (sFas) is found in low concentrations in the sera of healthy subjects and it elevated in patients with autoimmune diseases, malignancy and inflammatory diseases. The Fas molecules play some role in the pathogenesis of Graves’ disease through interfering with the Fas-FasL interaction. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between soluble Fas serum level and thyroid autoantibodies. Methods and Materials: In order to determine the association of serum sFas level with thyroid autoantibodies, we evaluated the serum levels of sFas and thyroid antibodies in 31 untreated GD patients and 37 respective healthy controls. sFas serum level was reported to be higher in patients than in healthy subjects (P....