Effects of total thyroidectomy on levels of serum VEGF and TGF-β1 and the incidence of adverse reactions in patients with bilateral nodular goiter

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effects of total thyroidectomy on levels of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and the incidence of adverse reactions in patients with bilateral nodular goiter (NG). Methods One hundred and six patients with bilateral NG were divided into observation group and control group according to operation procedures, with 53 cases in each group. The observation group was given total thyroidectomy and the control group underwent thyroid subtotal resection. The general condition, hospital stays, levels of serum VEGF, TGF-β1 before operation and 1 month after operation, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), incidence of postoperative complications were compared between the two groups; patients were followed up for 1 year after operation, the recurrence rate and SF-36 quality of life score before and 1 year after operation between the two groups were statistically recorded. Results The operation time of observation group was significantly longer than that of control group (P 0.05). Before surgery, the differences of serum VEGF, TGF-β1, IGF-1 levels between the two groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05); but 1 month after operation, the levels of VEGF and IGF-1 in observation group were significantly lower than those in control group, and the level of TGF-β1 was higher than that in control group, the differences were statistically significant (P 0.05. One year after treatmen, there was no recurrence in observation group, but 6 cases of recurrence in control group, and the recurrence rate was 11.32%, the difference was statistically significant (P 0.05); but 1 year after operation, the quality of life score of observation group was higher than that of control group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions Treatment of bilateral nodular goiter by total thyroidectomy gets a significant clinical effect, which is beneficial to improving levels of serum VEGF, IGF-1 and other cytokines expression levels, and it will not raise the incidence of postoperative complications, with low recurrence rate, and can improve the quality of life of patients. Key words: Bilateral nodular goiter; Total thyroidectomy; Vascular endothelial growth factors; Transforming growth factor-β1; Adverse reactions