Search Results
Department of Endocrinology, The People’s Hospital of Daxing District, Beijing, China
Search for other papers by Ya-Fen Hu in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Lin Hua in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Xiu Tuo in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Ting-Ting Shi in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Yi-Lin Yang in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Yun-Fu Liu in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Zhong-Yu Yan in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Zhong Xin in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Background
The pathogenesis underlying the alterations of orbital architecture in Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) is not yet fully understood. The present study aimed to investigate the association of DNA methylation in peripheral blood and orbital volumetry in Chinese patients with GO.
Methods
A total of 35 GO subjects (70 orbits) were subjected to CT scan. The total cross-sectional area of the extraocular muscles (orbital muscles, OM), total orbit area (TOA), and the exophthalmometry were measured and OM/TOA ratio was calculated. Targeted bisulfite sequencing was performed on seven candidate genes.
Results
No significant correlation was established between the DNA methylation levels of these genes and exophthalmometry. The MBP methylation level was found to be correlated with OM/TOA ratio (P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis on parameters including age, sex, TRAb, duration of GO, and DNA methylation levels of seven genes with OM/TOA ratio confirmed that MBP and OM/TOA ratio had a significant correlation (P < 0.05). The partial least squares analysis showed that the top three genes with the highest loadings were MBP, BOLL, and BECN1 and that OM/TOA ratio affected the DNA methylation block than exophthalmometry.
Conclusions
This study provided preliminary evidence that MBP is a potential gene associated with OM enlargement in GO patients according to the combination of DNA methylation sequencing and orbital CT measurement.
Search for other papers by Ru-Xuan Zhao in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Ting-Ting Shi in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Sha Luo in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Yun-Fu Liu in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Zhong Xin in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Jin-Kui Yang in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Background
Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) is an autoimmune disease with mechanical impairment of orbital muscles and lacrimal gland dysfunction. The frequently used methods of assessing GO activity include Clinical Activity Score (CAS), CT, and MRI. These approaches are mainly associated with orbital muscles; however, there are not many studies that focus on the lacrimal gland inflammation of GO patients.
Objective
The aim of this study is to assess the usefulness of 99mTc-DTPA single-photon emission (SPE) CT/CT in evaluating the lacrimal gland inflammation in GO, as compared with other methods.
Methods
A retrospective analysis of 48 patients with active GO compared with 33 controls was conducted. All subjects underwent clinical–endocrinological analyses, CAS evaluation, CT scans, and SPECT/CT examination. Lacrimal gland dimensions were determined and analyzed.
Results
The lacrimal glands in patients with GO were significantly larger in all measured dimensions (P < 0.001) on CT scans relative to those in controls. Increased lacrimal gland diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) uptake ratios (P < 0.001) were displayed in active GO patients compared to controls and were also correlated with thyrotropin receptor antibody levels. The cut-off value for discriminating active and inactive disease was calculated to be 1.735, with specificity of 82.6% and sensitivity of 74.2%. SPECT/CT uptake ratios and CAS values were positively correlated in all GO patients. SPECT/CT uptake ratios were also positively correlated with CT measurements including lacrimal gland volume and coronal width in GO patients.
Conclusions
These data indicated that lacrimal gland SPECT/CT images can serve as a good tool for assessing the inflammation and disease activity of GO.
