Roles of Inflammasome and Cytokines in the Pathogenesis of Autoimmune Thyroiditis

Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome, pro- and antiinflammatory cytokines, and their correlations in the pathogenesis of HT. Material and Methods: The pro-inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10), and NLRP-3 levels were analysed with ELISA method from blood samples taken from healthy controls (Group-1) and patients diagnosed with HT (Group-2). The Student’s t-test was used to evaluate quantitative data that showed a normal distribution between the two groups, while the Mann-Whitney U test was used for data sets that did not follow a normal distribution. A significance level of p<0.05 was considered acceptable. Results: In Group-2, a significant increase in NLRP-3 levels was observed compared to the Group-1 (p<0.05). A parallel tendency was discernible in TNF-α levels, which demonstrated a significant decline in the Group-2 cohort compared to Group-1 (p<0.01). However, IL-10 levels showed a significant decrease in the Group-2 compared to the Group-1 (p<0.001). Nevertheless, a statistically significant decrease in IL-10 levels was observed in the Group-2 compared to Group-1 (p<0.001). Conclusion: It has been hypothesised that NLRP-3 may play a role in the pathophysiology of autoimmune diseases, the loss of immune tolerance, and the formation of inappropriate autoreactive immune responses. This may be achieved by increasing the proinflammatory cytokine levels and decreasing the anti-inflammatory cytokine levels.