April - June 2025, Volume 21, Issue 2

Zaaber I, Marmouch H, Bel Hadj Jrad Tensaout B, Mestiri S

Strong Implication of TNF-? and IL8 Genes Polymorphisms with Autoimmune Thyroid Diseases in Tunisian Population

Acta Endo (Buc) 2025, 21 (2): 192-200
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2025.192

Background. Autoimmune thyroiditis, such as Graves' disease (GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), is a complex, genetically linked condition. IL-8 and TNF-α play a crucial role in these pathologies. Methods. This research was conducted on Tunisian patients with autoimmune thyroiditis (AITD) to examine the link between genetic variations in the IL-8 and TNF-α genes, their protein expression, and the likelihood of developing GD or HT. A total of 319 healthy controls, 230 patients with HT, and 75 patients with GD underwent genotyping via PCR-RFLP for the TNF-α-238 G/A and IL-8+781C>T polymorphisms. Plasma levels of IL-1β and TNF-α were also quantified. Results. The IL-8-781 T/T genotype and the IL- 8-781 T allele were detected more frequently in HT and GD patients than in control participants. Patients with hypertension exhibited a higher frequency of the TNFA- 238 G/A genotype and the TNFA-238 A allele compared to control individuals. However, no significant variation was observed in IL-8 and TNFA protein expression between patients and controls. Conclusions. The strong association between the IL-8-781C/T and TNFA-238 G/A polymorphisms and HT and GD suggests that these polymorphisms may play a crucial role in susceptibility to AITD within the Tunisian population.

Keywords: Autoimmune thyroid diseases, polymorphism, IL-8, TNFA.

Correspondence: Ines Zaaber MD, Laboratory of Genetics, Biodiversity and BioresourceValorization, Superior Institute of Biotechnology of Monastir, Avenue de TaherHadded - B.P. no. 74 - Monastir - 5000 Tunisia, E-mail: ineszaaber@hotmail.com