Abstract:

Killer cell immunoglobulinlike receptor (KIR) can modulate activity of NK and T lymphocytes. To investigate if the KIR genotype possesses a susceptibility to Hashimoto′s thyroiditis (HT). MethodsThe KIR genotypes in 100 HT patients and 260 randomly selected healthy controls (the control group) were determined using PCRSSP. ResultsThe two genotype frequencies of 3DL3,2DS2,2DL3,2DP1,2DL1,2DL4,3DL1,2DS4,3DL2 and 3DL3,2DL3,2DP1,2DL1,2DL4,3DL1,3DS1,2DS1,2DS4,3DL2 were significantly higher in the patient group than those in the control group (P＜0.05, P＜0.01)，　and the genotype frequency of 3DL3,2DL3,2DP1,2DL1,2DL4,3DL1,3DS1,2DL5,2DS5,2DS1,2DS4,3DL2 was significantly lower in the patient group than in the control group (P＜0.05). Genotypes possesses more than 6 inhibitory KIR genes had a lower frequency in the patient group than the control group (39% vs 56.2%, P＜0.01). ConclusionDifferences of the KIR genotypes between HT patients and healthy controls may explain the pathogenesis of HT.

Key words:  Killer cell immunoglobulinlike receptor;  Genes;  Hashimoto′s thyroiditis