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Serum interferon-gamma (IFN- γ) and expression profile of IFN- γ provide diagnostic signatures of unexplained infertility in females with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.
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  • Nearmeen Rashad,
  • Reham El Shabrawy,
  • Ahmed Radwan,
  • Reem Allam,
  • Rehab Abdul-Maksoud,
  • Magda Sherif
Nearmeen Rashad
Zagazig University Faculty of Human Medicine

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Reham El Shabrawy
Zagazig University Faculty of Human Medicine
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Ahmed Radwan
Zagazig University Faculty of Human Medicine
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Reem Allam
Zagazig University Faculty of Human Medicine
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Rehab Abdul-Maksoud
Zagazig University Faculty of Human Medicine
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Magda Sherif
Zagazig University Faculty of Human Medicine
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Abstract

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is a T cell-mediated autoimmune disease. Interferon-gamma (IFN- γ) is a crucial cytokine that plays a crucial role and shows increased level in HT. Unexplained infertility (UEI) is a condition in which no cause has been found to explain the failure of conception. We aimed in this study to detect the frequency of HT patients that suffer from UEI in a sample of Egyptian women. Also, to assess the serum interferon-gamma (IFN- γ) level and expression levels of IFN- γ gene in this group of patients to find out the possibility of using them as diagnostic markers for UEI in patients with HT. This cross-sectional study included 120 women with HT. We assessed fertility in both groups in which female patients with UEI were detected. For all patients, HT was diagnosed based on clinical and laboratory measures, serum IFN- γ was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and FN- γ mRNA expression was analyzed using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Our results revealed that 37.5 % of studied Egyptian women with HT had UEI. There was a significant positive correlation between serum IFN- γ and IFN- γ gene expression with thyroid auto-antibodies as well as TSH, while there was a negative correlation with FT3, FT4, and AMH. Interestingly, among studied parameters, TSH and FT3 were the only variables independently associated with serum IFN- γ while FT3 was only variables independently associated with IFN- γ gene expression by linear regression analysis.