Research Article: Cardiovascular risk factors in autoimmune thyroiditis: role of adiponectin, resistin, inflammation and auto-immunity - a cross-sectional study
Abstract:
Autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) has been associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. Whether adipokines, inflammation and auto-immunity contribute to this increased risk is uncertain. Our aim was to evaluate the interrelationships of adipokines, inflammation, auto-immunity, and thyroid function with cardiovascular risk in autoimmune thyroiditis.
Sixty-two patients with AIT, with normal free T4 (FT4) and free T3 (FT3), without other comorbidities were studied. Patients were divided into two groups: AIT with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) ?2.5 mU/L and AIT with TSH >2.5 mU/L. Parameters of thyroid function tests, serum lipid, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and homocysteine levels, anti-thyroglobulin antibodies, anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies, adiponectin and resistin were measured.
Patients with TSH >2.5 mU/L had significantly higher body mass index, higher low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels, and lower lipoprotein(a) levels. No differences in triglycerides, apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), apolipoprotein B (ApoB), adiponectin, or resistin levels were observed between groups. In the overall cohort, adiponectin levels were positively correlated with high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol and lipoprotein(a), whereas resistin was positively correlated with hs-CRP and triglyceride levels. Hs-CRP levels were positively correlated with anti-thyroglobulin antibody titers, and homocysteine levels were negatively correlated with FT3. In the subgroup with TSH >2.5 mU/L, FT4 was positively correlated with ApoA1 and HDL-cholesterol and negatively correlated with lipoprotein(a), while resistin was positively correlated with TSH. In patients with TSH ?2.5 mU/L, adiponectin levels were negatively correlated with TSH.
Our study highlights a complex interrelationship between cardiovascular risk factors in patients with AIT. Patients with AIT and TSH >2.5 mU/L may have a more atherogenic lipid profile.
Introduction:
Autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) is one of the most commonly diagnosed organ-specific auto-immune disorders ( 1 , 2 ). The pathological hallmarks of AIT are the production of thyroid-specific auto-antibodies in parallel to an inflammatory infiltration of the organ by T cells, with thyrocyte apoptosis resulting in a progressive organ failure and hypothyroidism ( 3 , 4 ). The spectrum of thyroid auto-immune dysfunction is associated with different levels of cardiovascular risk, as demonstrated by independent changes in…
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