In GD patients, the expression of Gal-9 was lower in those with severe clinical disease (goiter grade ≥3, and/or active ophthalmopathy with CAS ≥ 3, MFI 1.16), compared to patients with milder forms of GD (goiter grade ≤2 and CAS ≤3, MFI 1.49) (p = 0.043) (Fig 1E). This evidence concerns the gene LGALS9 and goiter.