Polymorphisms of ATG5 Gene Are Associated with Autoimmune Thyroid Diseases, Especially Thyroid Eye Disease.

Objective: To explore the association of gene polymorphisms with autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) including Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and Graves' illness (GD) as well as their clinical features.

Methods: rs6568431, rs548234, and rs6937876 were selected to investigate the correlation of single-nucleotide polymorphisms of gene with AITDs. Their frequencies in 824 AITD patients, including 271 HT patients and 553 GD patients, and 764 healthy controls were tested using both ligase detection reaction and multiplex polymerase chain reaction.