Subclinical and clinical hypothyroidism and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a cross-sectional study of a random population sample aged 18 to 65 years

Abstract

BackgroundNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common disorders of the liver worldwide. Recently, a correlation between thyroid dysfunction and NAFLD has been discussed. Objective of the present study was to investigate the association between thyroid dysfunction and hepatic steatosis.MethodsData from 2,445 subjects (51.7 % females) aged 18 to 65 years participating in a population-based cross-sectional study were assessed based on a standardized questionnaire and documentation of physical, biochemical and ultrasonographic findings. After application of exclusion criteria, a total of 1,276 subjects were included in the study collective. The influence of potential factors on the development of hepatic steatosis was assessed using multivariate logistic regression.ResultsThe prevalence of hepatic steatosis in the study collective was 27.4 % (n = 349). The serum thyroxin (TT4) concentration in subjects with hepatic steatosis was reduced (p = 0.0004). Adjusting for age, or BMI, there was an increased prevalence of hepatic steatosis in subjects with reduced TT4 concentrations (p = 0.0143; p = <.0001).ConclusionsThe findings of the present study confirm an association between both subclinical and clinical hypothyroidism and hepatic steatosis

Prevalence of Undiagnosed Hypothyroidism in Europe: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The highest limit of the reference range for TSH varied between 3.4 mIU/L [40] and 5.5 mIU/L [48]. The lowest limits of the reference ranges varied between 8.0 pmol/L [42] and 12.8 pmol/L [40] for fT 4 and between 2.96 pmol/L [48] and 3.92 pmol/L [40] for fT 3 .…”

“…The prevalence of undiagnosed total (subclinical plus overt) hypothyroidism was ascertained in 11 studies [15-19, 40-43, 46, 48], with estimates ranging between 2.7% [41] and 12.8% [16]. The prevalence of hypothyroidism was lower in men than in women for subclinical (men: min.…”

“…The report of selected articles results from cross-sectional analysis of 8 population-based surveys [15-18, 40-42, 49], 7 prospective cohort studies [34, 38, 39, 44-47], 2 retrospective cohort studies [35, 36], and 3 case-control studies [37, 43, 48]. …”

“…The sample size of selected studies varied between 307 [34] and 80,490 [35]. The studies included sample populations from Austria [35], Belgium [36], Bulgaria [37], Denmark [38], Germany [39, 40], Italy [16, 18, 41], Norway [15, 42], Spain [17, 19, 34, 43], The Netherlands [44, 45], the UK [46, 47], and Turkey [48]. …”

The Issue of Subclinical Hypothyroidism: Should it be Treated or Not?

“…38 SH hastalarda viseral yağlanma, örnegin; nonalkolik karaciğer yağlanması insidansı yüksek saptanmıştır. 39 Polikistik over sendrom (PKOS)'lu kadınlarda SH insidansının %14 ile yüksek olduğu görülmüştür (kontrol grubunda %1). Oran, kadınların şişman veya zayıf olmasıyla fark etmemiştir.…”