ICEECE2012 Poster Presentations Thyroid (non-cancer) (188 abstracts)
Enhanced expression of the B cell activation factor (BAFF) and baff-receptor (BAFF-R) in the thyroid and in the orbital adipose tissue from patients with graves’ disease (GD) and associated orbitopathy (GO)
I. Campi 1 , G. Vannucchi 1 , D. Covelli 1 , S. Rossi 2 , P. Doi 2 , N. Currò 1 , L. Pignataro 1 , C. Guastella 1 , P. Beck-Peccoz 1 & M. Salvi 1
1University of Milan, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda, Milan, Italy; 2University of Milan, S. Paolo Hospital, Milan, Italy.
BAFF, a member of the TNF family, promotes autoantibody production by increasing B cell survival and proliferation. We have previously shown that serum BAFF concentrations are increased in GD patients. In the present work, we studied the expression of BAFF and BAFF-R, by immunohistochemistry (IHC) on paraffin embedded sections of: 1. orbital adipose tissue from 22 patients (5 men, 17 women) with GO (3 of them with active GO) associated with GD or Hashimoto thyroiditis in 19 and 2 patients, respectively. One subject was affected with euthyroid GO (EGO); 2. extra-ocular-muscles (EOM) biopsies of 10 patients (2 men, 8 women) with GO (2 of them with active GO) associated with GD; 3. thyroid of 27 patients (20 women, 7 men) with GD and GO. Samples were stained using a panel of antibodies directed against the following antigens: BAFF, BAFF-R, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20, CD34, CD79, CD1a, CD68, CD163. Thyroid histology showed nodular hyperplasia (NH) in 8 of 27 patients, diffuse hyperplasia (DH) in 19 of 27. Reactivity for BAFF and BAFF-R was found on thyrocytes and on the lymphocytes infiltrating the thyroid. BAFF expression on thyrocytes was higher in DH than NH; conversely, lymphocytes surrounding the areas of NH exhibited a stronger staining for BAFF-R, compared to DH. In 15 of 22 samples, B and T-cells infiltrating orbital adipose tissues expressed BAFF. Interestingly, BAFF staining was stronger on B compared to T lymphocytes. BAFF-R staining was detected in 5 of 22 samples from orbital adipose tissue, but only on B lymphocytes. Orbital fibrocytes expressed BAFF and BAFF-R only rarely (3 of 22 samples). Tissue samples from EOM biopsies were negative either for BAFF or BAFF-R reactivity. In this study we report, for the first time, the increased expression of BAFF and BAFF-R in orbital and thyroid tissue samples from patients with GO and GD. This finding, together with the recent observation of increased serum BAFF levels in GD, suggests an involvement of BAFF and its receptors in the pathophysiology of GD and GO.
Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.
Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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