AIM: To analyze the correlation between levels of serum soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1(sICAM-1), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1(sVCAM-1)and the severity of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy(TAO).

METHODS: A total of 120 patients with TAO admitted to the hospital from August 2016 to March 2018 were selected and included in the study. According to the clinical activity score(CAS), the patients were divided into active stage group and inactive stage group. According to the severity, they were divided into mild group, moderate group and severe group. There were 90 healthy persons were selected as the control group at the same time. The general data, serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 levels were compared among groups and the correlation of sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 levels with the severity of TAO was analyzed.

RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the clinical basic data of patients in between the different clinical active stage groups and the control group, and between the different severity groups and the control group(P>0.05). The levels of serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in the active stage group were significantly higher than those in the inactive stage group and the control group(P<0.01). The levels of serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in active stage patients of different severity groups were significantly higher than those in inactive stage patients and of control groups(P<0.01). There were no significant differences in levels of serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in inactive stage patients of different severity groups. The levels of serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in active stage patients of different severity groups increased gradually with the severity of the disease. There was no significant correlation between levels of serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in inactive stage patients and the severity of disease(r=0.102, 0.095, P=0.135, 0.167). Levels of serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in active stage patients were positively correlated to severity of disease(r=0.695, 0.824, P=0.005, 0.002).

CONCLUSION: The levels of serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in inactive patients will not increase with the severity of the disease. However, the levels in patients with active disease will increase with the severity of the disease, which can be used for clinical diagnosis and staging of TAO and monitoring of the prognosis.