Expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors and Ki-67 antigen in Graves' disease and nodular goiter

Graves' Disease (GD) is an autoimmune disease with higher prevalence in women than in men. The aim of the study was to correlate the expression of estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR) as well as Ki-67 cell proliferation index in thyroid sections of GD and nodular goiter (ND) patients. The study was performed on archival paraffin blocks of 77 GD and 25 ND patients using immunohistochemistry. Higher expression of progesterone receptors (p = 0.0276) and Ki-67 index (p < 0.0001) was observed in thyroids of GD as compared to NG patients. No correlations were found between the particular markers and patients' clinicopathological parameters, sex or age. A higher incidence of GD in women was not associated with different thyroid expression of ER and PR in comparison to men. No correlation was found between the expression of ER and PR and proliferation marker of thyrocytes of GD and ND patients. Significantly higher expression of the Ki-67 antigen in GD lesions was observed as compared to the NG.