摘要 |
The invention provides methods of diagnosing Graves' disease (GD), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and other autoimmune diseases in an individual by detecting a disproportionately large fraction of peripheral blood T cells express IGF- 1 R (CD3<SUP>+</SUP> IGF-R<SUP>+</SUP>) compared to normal control samples. In a further embodiment, the invention provides methods of diagnosing, prognosing, staging, and/or monitoring GD, RA and other autoimmune diseases. Or a predisposition thereto in an individual by detecting a disproportionately large fraction of CD3<SUP>+</SUP> IGF- 1 R<SUP>+</SUP> T cells that express CD 45 RO<SUP>+</SUP> compared to normal control samples. In a further embodiment, the invention provides a method of diagnosing, prognosing, staging, and/or monitoring GD, RA and other autoimmune diseases or a predisposition thereto in an individual by detecting an increased CD 45 RO<SUP>+</SUP>/RA<SUP>+</SUP> ratio in peripheral blood T cells compared to normal control samples. In addition to peripheral blood T cells, the methods of the invention also can be practiced with test samples comprising T cells harvested from affected orbital tissues. Embodiments directed to the prognosis, staging, and/or monitoring of GD, RA and other autoimmune diseases or a predisposition thereto also are provided, along with diagnostic kits for practicing the various embodiments of the invention.
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