Anticardiolipin Antibodies and Immunoglobulin M and A in Graves’ Disease

Abstract

Background: Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disease, characterized by the presence of antibodies directed to TSH receptor or nearby regions as well as antibodies to double strands DNA (dsDNA) anticardiolipin and nuclear antibodies. This study evaluated anticardiolipin and rheumatoid factor, such as IgA and IgM antibodies in patients with Graves’ disease. Patients and methods: Anticardiolipin and rheumatoid factor were measured in sera of 84 patients (29 male, 55 female) with evidence of Graves’ disease and 41 healthy individuals (15 male, 26 female) with negative history of hyperthyroidism and other autoimmune diseases. Results: Mean level of anti cardiolipin antibody (ACLA) in patients and control groups were 0.192±0.11 and 0.087±0.200 optical density (OD) respectively. The level of IgM-Rhematoid factor (IgM-RF) of patients and healthy control groups was the same, whereas the mean IgA-RF levels in patients was significantly lower than control group. Conclusion: Anticardiolipin level in different studies showed various results which may be due to genetic backgrounds. Lower level of IgA-RF may also be due to environmental factors, which stimulate specific lymphocytes that producing this type of antibodies.Iran J Med Sci 2005; 30(1): 6-9. Keywords · Anticardiolipin antibody · Rheumatoid factor · Graves’ disease