AGER and hematocrit: Similarly, the percentage of CD14+ RAGE+ cells in AITD patients was significantly higher than those in control group in both resting (4.7 ± 0.7 for HT, 4.3 ± 0.5 for GD Vs 2.3 ± 0.4 for HC) and agonist-stimulated cultured cells (4.9 ± 0.8 for HT, 5.0 ± 0.7 for GD Vs 3.0 ± 0.5 for HC; P < 0.01 for HT and P < 0.01 for GD, respectively, Figure 5B).