Plant Archives Volume 20 No. 2, 2020 pp. 6101-6108 e-ISSN:2581-6063 (online), ISSN:0972-5210 ROLE OF CYTOKINES IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF THYROID DISEASE AMONG IRAQI PATIENTS Raheeq Abdulridha Ighewish 1 *, Ifad Kerim Alshibly 2 and Kadhim Challoob Hasan 3 1* Health ministry, Government of Iraq. 2 Department of microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Babylon. Iraq. 3 Department of surgery, College of Medicine, University of Babylon, Iraq. Abstract Autoimmune thyroid diseases, comprising the two main entities Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Graves’ disease, are the most common autoimmune diseases. The objective of this research was to study the relationship between some selected cytokines and thyroid dysfunction. The present study included 80 patients with thyroid disease (55 hypothyroidism and 25 hyperthyroidism) and 20 apparently healthy control subjects in a case-control study, at age ranged between (20-80 ) years old. Blood samples of those subjects were collected during the period from September 2019 to April 2020. Case information sheets involving Age, Sex, Family History, Pregnancy, Diabetic, smoking, Urinary Tract Infection, Gastric Infection. Results of demographic data found that the presence of minor differences in mean age of control subjects, hypothyroid patients and hyperthyroid patients, 41.6, 42.78 and 40.36 years, respectively, the difference was statistically insignificant (P = 0.655). The effect of thyroid dysfunction on body mass index, urinary tract infection (UTI), diabetes mellitus (DM) and positive rheumatoid factor in patients was studied. The mean body mass index (BMI) was higher in hypothyroid patients than in hyperthyroid patients, 29.35 kg/m 2 versus 22.51 kg/m 2 , respectively in a highly significant manner (P < 0.001). Urinary tract infection (UTI) was statistically insignificant (P = 0.427). Diabetes mellitus (DM) was the difference in rate of DM was statistically insignificant (P = 0.782). The positivity for rheumatoid factor (RF) was limited to hypothyroid patients as it was seen in 3 (5.5%) and no one of patients with hyperthyroidism exhibited positivity to RF (0.0 %); however, because of low number of positive RF patients in hypothyroid group, the difference was statistically insignificant in comparison with hyperthyroid patients (P = 0.584). The frequency distribution of control subjects and patients with hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism exhibited no significant variation (P = 0.099). Key words: Thyroditis, hypothyrodism, hyperthyrodism, body mass, RF. Introduction Thyroiditis is defined as an inflammatory disorder of the thyroid gland. It may result from a myriad of etiologies and Is usually classified into acute, sub-acute, and chronic form. Each of these is associated with a distinct clinical presentation and histology. Medical therapy remains the mainstay of the management of thyroiditis, but surgical treatment is warranted in certain specific circumstances (Orlo, et al., 2016). The term thyroiditis implies an inflammatory response, and although inflammation of the thyroid may be present in some forms of thyroiditis, in reality some etiology of thyroiditis are not actually an inflammatory response. Form of thyroiditis may share some features but may have distinct underlying etiology, including autoimmune, infectious, drug or radiation related, induced by trauma, or related to invasive fibrotic thyroiditis (Riedel¼s thyroiditis) (Gregory W.R., et al., 2020). Thyroid disorders are among the most common endocrine diseases and are often primary due to damage of the thyroid gland itself (Zaccarelli-Marino MA, et al., 2016). Their global prevalence is estimated at 10% and are by far dominated by subclinical or asymptomatic forms (hypo- or hyper-thyroidism); overt or symptomatic forms are much rarer (Bouomrani S., et al., 2019). Autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) is a prototypical organ specific autoimmune disease. The etiology of AITD is multifactorial; interactions between genetic and environmental predisposing triggers lead to dysregulation *Author for correspondence : E-mail : raheqalkhafaji77@gmail.com