Summary
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is a
T cell-mediated autoimmune disease. Interferon-gamma (IFN- γ) is a
crucial cytokine that plays a crucial role and shows increased level in
HT. Unexplained infertility (UEI) is a condition in which no cause has
been found to explain the failure of conception.
We aimed in this study to detect
the frequency of HT patients that suffer from UEI in a sample of
Egyptian women. Also, to assess the
serum interferon-gamma (IFN- γ)
level and expression levels of IFN- γ gene in this group of patients to
find out the possibility of using them as diagnostic markers for UEI in
patients with HT. This cross-sectional study included 120 women with HT.
We assessed fertility in both groups in which female patients with UEI
were detected. For all patients, HT was diagnosed based on clinical and
laboratory measures, serum IFN- γ was measured using enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay and FN- γ mRNA expression was analyzed using
real-time polymerase chain reaction. Our results revealed that 37.5 %
of studied Egyptian women with HT had UEI. There was a significant
positive correlation between serum IFN- γ and IFN- γ gene expression
with thyroid auto-antibodies as well as TSH, while there was a negative
correlation with FT3, FT4, and AMH. Interestingly, among studied
parameters, TSH and FT3 were the only variables independently associated
with serum IFN- γ while FT3 was only variables independently associated
with IFN- γ gene expression by linear regression analysis.
Conclusions : 37.5 % of
the studied Egyptian women with HT had UEI there were statistically
significant increases of the age of menarche, TSH, anti-TPO, anti-TG,
serum IFN- γ, IFN- γ mRNA in UEI group as compared to the fertile group.
Cutoff values of 16.7pg/dl for IFN- γ and 2.65pg/dl for IFN- γ gene
expression are specific and sensitive for differentiating UEI from
fertile women.
Keywords : Hashimoto’s thyroiditis; UEI; Serum IFN- γ ; IFN- γ
gene expression; TPO- Ab.