Effect of Radioactive Iodine Therapy on Interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-17 and Physiological Parameters in Iraqi Patients with Graves’ Disease

Objective: The causes behind graves’ disease are still unclear but it is suggested to be the results of a combination of risk factors include genetic and environmental factors as well as immune factors. So, it may be useful to investigate the potential association between some serum biomarkers of greaves disease patients before and after treatment with Radioactive Iodine (RAI). Subjects and methods: Serum levels of Interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-17 were measured using ELISA assay. The blood samples were collected from a total of 70 Iraqi GD patients were enrolled in this study. They were divided into two groups: The first group involved 35 untreated GD patients and the second group involved 35 patients who received radioactive iodine therapy (RAI). In addition, 30 people apparently healthy worked as control group.
Results: The hormonal results indicated that before radiation, most of GD patients had greater free triiodothyronine (FT3) and free thyroxine (FT4) levels, and lower TSH levels than healthy controls. Also, there were a significant difference in the lipid levels of TRG and HDL in the GD patients before and after treatment with RAI. The results showed a significant increase in serum levels of IL-2 in untreated and treated GD patients as compared to healthy control. The data also revealed that the serum level of IL-17 was lower in untreated GD patients compared to the control group. There were no significant differences before and after treatment with IL-17 and there were no significant differences observed among studies groups.
Conclusions: The results of IL-2 and IL-17 levels in the serum of the studied groups suggests the potential anti-inflammatory function of these biomarkers in GD.