Cardiovascular risk factors in patients with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis

Introduction: Hashimoto's thyroiditis, or chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (CAT), is the most common organ-specific autoimmune disorder. Aim: To determine the relation between thyroid autoimmunity and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors. Patients and Methods: This is a case-control study included fifty patients with autoimmune thyroiditis (case group) and fifty healthy individuals with matched age and sex (control group). We analyzed the levels and variations of thyroid function, lipid profile, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), insulin resistance markers comprising the HOMA-IR (homeostatic assessment insulin resistance index), QUICKI (quantitative insulin sensitivity check index). Results: There is nonsignificant positive correlation between TSH and LDL, Apo A-I, Lp (a) and Homocysteine while there is nonsignificant negative correlation between TSH and HDL, Apo B, CRP and HOMA-IR. There is a positive significant correlation between FT3 and HDL, HOMA-IR (p=0.024 and 0.013, respectively). Also, there is a significant positive correlation between Anti-Tg and Apo B, Homocysteine (p=0.013 and 0.017, respectively) while there is a significant negative correlation between Anti-Tg and HDL, Lp (a) (p=0.026 and 0.021, respectively). Conclusion: There is an association between thyroid function, thyroid autoimmunity and cardiovascular risk factors, including dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, levels of homocysteine and CRP.