The cardiac calsequestrin gene (CASQ2) is up-regulated in the thyroid in patients with Graves’ ophthalmopathy. Homo sapiens

Thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) is a complex eye and orbital disorder that is uniquely linked to Graves’ hyperthyroidism (GH). A popular explanation for the development of orbital inflammation in these patients is autoimmunity against the TSH-receptor expressed in orbital preadipocytes. However, this has not been proven and alternative hypotheses should be entertained. We have shown recently that antibodies against highly purified rabbit skeletal muscle calsequestrin are sensitive and specific markers of eye muscle inflammation in patients with thyroid autoimmunity. Keywords: disease state comparison Overall design: In the study presented here, RNA from thyroid tissue of hyperthyroid patients with (n=10) and without (n=8) symptoms of ophthalmopathy was compared across 20,589 genes.