Expression and significance of cytokeratin-19, vimentin, vascular endothelial growth factor-C, and cyclooxygenase-2 in Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Objective To study the roles of cytokeratin-19 ( CK-19 ),vimentin,vascular endothelial growth factor-C( VEGF-C ),and cyclooxygenase-2 ( COX-2 ) played in the occurrence and development of Graves'disease(GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis(HT).Methods 57 cases of GD and 58 cases of HT were enrolled in our study.Immunohistochemistry using SP method was carried out for assessment of the expression of CK-19,vimentin,VEGF-C,and COX-2 in the thyroid tissues.Results CK-19,VEGF-C,and COX-2 were expressed in the cytoplasm of thyroid follicular epithelial cells.Vimentin was expressed both in the mesenchyma and in the cytoplasm of thyroid follicular epithelial cells.The positive rates and expression intensities of CK-19 and VEGF-C in HT ( 86.2％,96.6％ ) were significantly higher than those in GD ( 43.9％,56.1％,all P＜0.05 ).The expression intensities of vimentin and COX-2 in GD ( 100.0％,93.1％ ) were similar to those in HT ( 100.0％,91.2 ％ ),while the expression intensity of COX-2 in HT was significantly higher than that in GD( all P＜0.05 ).The positive rates of CK-1 9 were much higher in type Ⅲ ( 81.3％ ) of GD than in type Ⅰ ( 1 5.8％ ) and type Ⅱ ( 40.9％ ) of GD,and also higher in type P( 100％ ) of HT than in type L(66.7％ ) of HT.The positive rates of VEGF-C were much higher in type Ⅲ ( 87.5％ ) of GD than in type Ⅰ ( 36.8％ ) and type Ⅱ ( 50.0％,all P ＜ 0.05 ) of GD.Conclusion Immunohistochemical detection of the expression of CK-19,vimentin,VEGF-C,and COX-2 may carry clinical significance in revealing the occurrence and development as well as evaluating the prognosis of Graves'disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Key words: Graves' disease;  Hashimoto's thyroiditis;  Cytokeratin-19;  Vimentin;  Vascular endothelial grouth factor-C;  Cyclooxygenase-2