Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in hypothyroid patients under Levothyroxine therapy

Özet

Aim: Since thyroid hormones have an impact on lipid and glu-cose metabolism, thyroid dysfunction is a risk factor for cardio-vascular diseases. Metabolic syndrome (MS) is related to higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and all-cause mortality. Studies have demonstrated that thyroid dysfunction corresponds to a higher prevalence of MS. Additionally, some studies have showed patients with MS had a higher prevalence of hypothyroidism. We aimed to investigate whether hypothyroid patients being treated with levothyroxine still have a higher pre-valence of metabolic syndrome or not.Methods: One hundred and eighty-six hypothyroid patients (175 female, 11 male) using levothyroxine treatment were included in the study. Demographic, anthropometric and laboratory me-asures were recorded. International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria were used for diagnosis of MS.Results: The prevalence of MS was 52% in hypothyroid patients using levothyroxine. Mean age was 48.44±14.90 years. Mean TSH was 1.94±1.11 uIU/L and mean free T4 was 1.06±0.20 (ng/dL). Mean weekly levothyroxine dose was 537.01 mcg. We-ekly levothyroxine dose was positively correlated with weight (r2:0.188, p:0.010), BMI (r2:0.227, p:0.026) and waist circumfe-rence (r2:0.164, p:0.026). Weekly levothyroxine dose was also positively correlated with LDL-cholesterol (r2:0.167, p:0.031) and HbA1c (r2:0.180, p:0.034) levels. Weekly levothyroxine dose was not correlated with other cardiometabolic risk factors (p>0.05).Conclusions: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is still high in hypothyroid patients under levothyroxine treatment. Moreo-ver, more comprehensive studies should be performed in a larger -scale population to enlighten this association.