Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of dexamethasone on apoptosis of primary human thyroid follicular epithelial cells. Methods After separation and stimulation with different concentrations of dexamethasone, inhibition rates of proliferation, apoptosis rates and apoptosis-related mRNA expression of primary thyroid follicular epithelial cells were measured by MTT, flow cytometry and fluorescence quantitative PCR respectively. Results Within the concentration range of 10-6~10-4mol/L, dexamethasone dose-dependently inhibited thyroid cell proliferation, increased cell apoptosis rates and expression of apoptosis-related mRNA of thyroid cells. Conclusion Dexamethasone can not only inhibit the proliferation of thyroid follicular epithelial cells, but also have effect on apoptosis of thyroid cells.

Key words: Key words：dexamethasone, thyroid follicular epithelial cells, cell proliferation, apoptosis