SUMMARY
The aim of the study: to assess the role of caspase-1 and IL-18 in the implementation of the inflammatory response in young patients with autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).Materials and methods. The study was conducted in two groups of patients homogeneous by gender and age. The first group included 42 patients with an isolated AIT and the second group – 120 patients with a comorbid course of AIT and GERD. The contingent of the surveyed was students. Median age was from 18 to 25 years: 23.1±1.2 years in group with isolated AIT and 21.9±2.7 years in group with combined pathology. The activity of caspase-1 was determined using “Elabscience” kits, USA (China) by immunoassay method. The content of IL-18 was investigated using commercial kits “Bender MedSystems GmbH” (Austria) according to the proposed methods by immunoassay method. Statistical data processing was carried out using the local universal software package Statistica Basic Academic 13 for Windows En Local. Methods of non-parametric statistics were used: Kruskal-Wallis test, median test, Mann-Whitney test.Results. It has been found that caspase-1 is activated in patients both in the isolated course of AIT and in its combination with GERD. At the same time, a significant increasing in the synthesis of IL-18 was established, which has pro-inflammatory and autoimmune effects. Re-examination after 2 months of caspase-1 and IL-18 in examined persons determined decreasing their levels, but control results were not achieved.Conclusion. In young patients, the combination of GERD and AIT, as well as an isolated AIT is accompanied by an increasing the levels of caspase-1 and IL-18 in blood serum related to inflammatory process in the thyroid gland and esophageal mucosa with autoimmune component. These biomarkers may reflect the severity of clinical course of diseases and serve as prognostic indicator of outcome in case of comorbidity.