The role of phosphoinositide 3-kinase subunits in chronic thyroiditis

Background The risk of neoplastic transformation in patients with chronic thyroiditis (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis – HT) is slightly increased. Genetic background of this observation is still unclear. PI3K isoforms are linked with inflammatory and neoplastic processes, thus they appear to be interesting subjects of a research in this respect. The aim of our study was to assess the PIK3CA, PIK3CB, PIK3CD and PIK3CG genes expression levels in HT. Methods Following conventional cytological examination, 67 thyroid FNAB specimens, received from patients with HT, were quantitatively evaluated regarding PIK3CA, PIK3CB, PIK3CD and PIK3CG expression levels by real-time PCR in the ABI PRISM 7500 Sequence Detection System. Results The performed analysis has revealed significantly higher expression levels (RQ) of PIK3CD, PIK3CG and PIK3CA genes in comparison with PIK3CB gene (p<0.05) and significantly higher gene expression level of PIK3CD in comparison with PIK3CA (p<0.05). Conclusion The observed increased PIK3CD, PIK3CG genes expression in HT is probably related to lymphocyte infiltration commonly seen in this condition, however, the role of increased PIK3CA gene expression in the multi-step carcinogenesis process cannot be excluded.