[The role of adipose tissue in the pathogenesis and clinical manifestation of Graves' orbitopathy].

Graves' orbitopathy (GO) is a inflammatory disease of connective tissue with autoimmune background considered as extrathyroidal component of the Graves' disease. Despite a progress in understanding of some elements of the pathogenesis it still remains one of the most complex topics of clinical endocrinology. Clinical symptoms of the orbitopathy derive from the discrepancy between limited space of the orbit and expansion of pathologically affected orbital tissues.

PPARg2 Ala¹² variant protects against Graves' orbitopathy and modulates the course of the disease.

Orbital fibroblast differentiation to adipocytes is a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor g (PPARg)-dependent process essential for pathogenic tissue remodeling in Graves' orbitopathy (GO). PPARg2 Pro¹²Ala polymorphism modulates expression and/or function of the molecule encoded by this gene and is a promising locus of GO. Here, we analyzed associations of PPARg2 Pro¹²Ala with clinical manifestation of GO in 742 Polish Caucasians including 276 Graves' disease (GD) patients.