Abstract
Purpose :
Grave’s ophthalmopathy (GO) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by orbital inflammation and is associated with Grave’s hyperthyroidism. Thyrotropin receptor autoantibody (TRAb) was first identified to be related to Grave’s hyperthyroidism and have been demonstrated to be associated with the clinical activity score (CAS) of GO in some studies, while in others its correlation with the severity of GO was controversial. Our previous study has identified an autoantibody against aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) which has strong correlation with CAS in patients with GO. With the previous literatures that showed TRAb are correlated with the CAS of GO patients, we would expect their titers to be correlated with the titers of anti-ALDH2 antibody. The purpose of this study is to compare the serum titers of anti-ALDH2 antibody and TRAb in patients with GO.
Methods :
Fifty patients with active GO were enrolled in this study. The patients’ thyroid function status, medical history, surgical history, and serum anti-ALDH2 antibody and TRAb titers were collected. All patients were examined by the same ophthalmologist to determine the levels of the CAS. The correlation coefficients between serum anti-ALDH2 antibody, TRAb, and thyroid function, and the CAS were calculated by Pearson’s and Spearman’s rho correlation analysis.
Results :
There was significant correlation between the titers of anti-ALDH2 antibody and the CAS (r=0.301, p<0.05) (Figure 1), but not between the titers of anti-ALDH2 antibody and TRAb (r=0.014, P=0.921). The TRAb level was significantly correlated with T3 and TSH levels (r=0.406 and -0.32, p<0.05, respectively), but had no significant correlation with the CAS (r=0.021, p=0.884) (Table 1).
Conclusions :
The level of anti-ALDH2 antibody was significantly correlated with the CAS but not the TRAb level and thyroid function, suggesting that it might be more specific to orbital tissue and the disease activity of GO. The TRAb level was significantly associated with thyroid function instead of the clinical activity of GO, indicating its role in Grave's hyperthyroidism rather than ophthalmopathy.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.