Abstract:
Objective To investigate the apoptosis rate of thyroid cells (TEC) and the expression significance of FAS, FASL in thyroid nodules.
Method Seventy-five patients with thyroid nodules were selected to collect the thyroid lesion tissues. According to the pathological diagnosis results, the specimens were divided into the nodular goiter group (goiter group, n = 27), thyroid adenoma group (adenoma group, n = 21) and thyroid cancer group (n = 27), and the normal tissue adjacent to thyroid cancer was selected as the control group. TUNEL method was used to detect the apoptosis rate of TEC in 4 groups. The expression levels of FAS and FASL were detected by immunohistochemistry.
Results The apoptosis rate of TEC in the goiter group, adenoma group and thyroid cancer group was higher than that in control group (P < 0.05), and the expression levels of FAS and FASL were also higher than those in control group (P < 0.05). The apoptosis rate of TEC was positively correlated with the positive expression rates of FAS and FASL in thyroid tissues (r = 0.940, 0.943, P < 0.01).
Conclusions The abnormal apoptosis of TEC may be involved in the pathological process of thyroid nodules. FAS and FASL may be important causes of the abnormal apoptosis of TEC, and may be related to the pathological types of thyroid nodules.