The immunoregulatory effect of thalidomide on peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) was investigated.The resuhs showed that thalidomide (50 μg/ml)inhibited the proliferation of PBMC significantly.Thalidomide inhibitied tumor necrosis factor-α,IFN-γ,and interleukin-6 secretion,as well as mRNA expressions.

ObjectiveTo determine the protein and mRNA expression levels of interleukin-17 (IL-17) and proportions of Th17 cells in peripheral blood of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD),and to analyze their clinical significance.MethodsVenous blood samples were obtained from 63 patients with AD and 30 normal human controls.Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was performed to measure the plasma level of IL-17 protein,real time fluorescence reverse transcription (RT)-PCR to detect the mRNA expression level of IL-17 in peripheral blood,flow cytometry to determine the percentage of Th17 cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs).Spearman's rank correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship of peripheral blood Th17 cell percentage and IL-17 levels with disease severity in patients with AD.Results The percentage of Th17 cells in PBMCs was 1.83％ ± 0.47％ in patients with acute AD,significantly higher than that in normal human controls (0.85％ ± 0.45％,t =4.128,P ＜ 0.01 ) and in patients with chronic AD ( 1.12％ ± 0.69％,t =2.439,P ＜ 0.05).There was a significant increase in the plasma level (98.37 vs.63.75 ng/L,U =168,P ＜ 0.05) and mRNA expression level of IL-17 in peripheral blood in patients with AD compared with normal controls.Both the Th17 cell percentage and plasma IL-17 level were positively correlated with eczema area and severity index(EASI) score in patients with AD (r =0.681,P ＜ 0.01;r =0.427,P ＜ 0.05).ConclusionsThere is an elevated proportion of Th17 cells and an abnormal expression of IL-17 protein and mRNA in peripheral blood from patients with acute AD,which are positively correlated with disease severity,implicating the possible roles of IL-17 and Th17 cells in the pathogenesis of AD.

Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of rearrangements during transfection of papillary thyroid cancer (RET/PTC) 1,3 in fine needle aspiration (FNA) specimen from regional thyroid nodules by FQ-PCR.Methods Two hundred and eighty-five FNA samples were collected from patients with thyroid nodules during January 2012 to January 2013.RET/PTC1,3 rearrangements were detected with FQ-PCR.Results The frequencies of the RET/PTC1 and RET/PTC3 rearrangements in 285 FNA samples were 17.2％ (49/285) and 1.4％ (4/285),respectively.During 21.7 months of follow-up,19 (40.4％,19/47) RET/PTC1 positive patients were confirmed to have papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC) after operation.In the patients with RET/PTC1 rearrangement PTC was found in Thy5 and Thy4 groups.In Thy 2 group,22.6％ cases with RET/PTC1 rearrangements developed PTC as compared with 3.2％ cases without it(x2 =6.667,P＜0.01).In addition,8.5％ (4/47) RET/PTC1 rearrangements emerged in benign lesions.Conclusions It is convenient and reliable to detect RET/PTC1,3 rearrangements by FQ-PCR using FNA samples.RET/PTC1 rearrangement frequently occurs in PTC,however it would be detected in benign lesions occasionally.

Long non-coding RNA(lncRNA) is non-protein coding transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides,which plays an important role in the development of the metabolic process.Thyroid cancer is the most common cancer of the endocrine system,and as reported,lncRNA is related to the occurrence and development of thyroid tumors.Therefore,this paper reports the latest domestic and foreign research progress about lncRNA in thyroid tumor,in order to provide new ideas for molecular diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the expression of serum miR-222-3p in papillary thyroid carcinoma and its clinical significance.METHODS Total RNA in serum was extracted from 121 patients of papillary thyroid carcinoma and benign thyroid diseases.The reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR) method was used to detect the expression of miR-222-3p,and then the potential correlation between serum miR-222-3p and clinical pathological characteristics of papillary thyroid carcinoma was analyzed.The receiver operating characteristic area under the curve(ROCAUC) and their index for diagnosis evaluation were also calculated.RESULTS The median expression level of serum miR-222-3p in papillary thyroid carcinoma patients was significantly higher than that of control group (2.2188 vs 0.7022,P=0.002).Although the expressions of serum miR-222-3p was not associated with the gender,age,capsule invasion,TNM stage,but it was positively correlated with tumor size,bilateral involvement,lesion quantity and lymph node status.ROC curve analysis showed that the specificity and sensitivity of the miR-222-3p diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer were 79.75％ and 61.90％,respectively,while the ROC-AUC was 0.717.CONCLUSION The serum miR-222-3p is over expressed in papillary thyroid carcinoma and its expression is significantly correlated with tumor progression.It will be helpful for PTC diagnosis.