Expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors and Ki-67 antigen in Graves’ disease and nodular goiter

 Graves’ Disease (GD) is an autoimmune disease with higher prevalence in women than in men. The aim of the study was to correlate the expression of estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR) as well as Ki- 67 cell proliferation index in thyroid sections of GD and nodular goiter (ND) patients. The study was performed on archival paraffin blocks of 77 GD and 25 ND patients using immunohistochemistry. Higher expression of progesterone receptors (p = 0.0276) and Ki-67 index (p < 0.0001) was observed in thyroids of GD as compared to NG patients. No correlations were found between the particular markers and patients’ clinicopathological parameters, sex or age. A higher incidence of GD in women was not associated with different thyroid expression of ER and PR in comparison to men. No correlation was found between the expression of ER and PR and proliferation marker of thyrocytes of GD and ND patients. Significantly higher expression of the Ki-67 antigen in GD lesions was observed as compared to the NG.

Role of metallothioneins in benign and malignant thyroid lesions

Abstract Recent findings in the past two decades have brought many insights into the biology of thyroid benign and malignant lesions, in particular the papillary and follicular thyroid cancers. Although, much progress have been made, thyroid cancers still pose diagnostic problems regarding differentiation of follicular lesions in relation to their aggressiveness and the treatment of advanced and undifferentiated thyroid cancers. Metallothioneins (MTs) were shown to induce cancer cells proliferation, mediate resistance to apoptosis, certain chemotherapeutics and radiotherapy. Therefore, MTs may be of utility in diagnosis and management of patients with benign and malignant lesions of the thyroid.</p