Fibulin-1: a novel biomarker for predicting disease activity of the thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

This study was designed to investigate the association between fibulin-1(FBLN1) and thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO).

METHOD:

The plasma FBLN1 levels were measured in 80 participants, including 30 active TAO patients, 25 inactive TAO patients, and 25 Graves disease (GD) patients without TAO using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS:

TAO patients had significantly higher TRAb level than GD patients (p < 0.05). The active TAO patients consumed more tobacco and had higher CAS than inactive TAO patients (all p < 0.05). No significant differences were found in age, sex, and the level of FT3, FT4, and TSH between TAO and GD patients, and between the active and inactive TAO patients (all p > 0.05). The plasma FBLN1 level in TAO patients was higher than that in GD patients, and that in active patients was higher than that in inactive patients (all p < 0.05). Furthermore, the plasma FBLN1 level showed strong association with clinical activity score (CAS) of TAO (r = 0.67, p < 0.01). By receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, FBLN1 demonstrated good efficiency for predicting disease activity at the cut-off value > 625.33 pg/ml with a sensitivity of 93.3% and a specificity of 88.0% (AUC:0.92, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION:

The plasma FBLN1 levels correlated with TAO activity and a value >625.33 pg/ml was associated with active disease. Our results suggest that the plasma FBLN1 level could be a novel biomarker for predicting disease activity of TAO.

• Authors: Hong Hu, Liang Liang, Xiaoya Zheng, Xin Jiang, Zhizhen Fu, Chun Liu, Jian Long
• Journal: Eye (London, England) (Eye (Lond)) Vol. 37 Issue 11 Pg. 2216-2219 (08 2023) ISSN: 1476-5454 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 36418908 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

Chemical References

• fibulin
• Biomarkers

Topics

• Humans
• Graves Ophthalmopathy
• Biomarkers