Endocrine Abstracts

Thyroid disease is associated with atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease. This is undoubted for overt hypothyroidism, but is controversy in subclinical hypothyroidism hittle is known about the relationship between insulin resistance and thyroid function. It is well known that insulin resistance is the main part of metabolic syndrome. We aimed to investigate the relationship between thyroid function, body mass index (BMI) and homeostasis model assessment index for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in patients with heart ischemic disease.

Methods: Seventy-three patients were included in our study. Heart ischemic disease was confirmed by the results of coronarography. We studied age, gender and BMI of our patients. Fasting blood samples were taken for measuring of TSH level, glucose and insulin concentration. HOMA-IR was calculated as fasting insulin (mU/l) times fasting glucose (mmol/l) divided by 22.5. Patients with diabetes were excluded from the study.

Results: Middle age of our patients was 57.23±0.48 years, BMI was 28.23±230.19 kg/m² and TSH level was 2.61±0.74 IU/l. In accordance with BMI all patients were divided in 3 groups: I – normal weight, II – weight abudance, III – obesity. TSH level was reliable higher in patients with obesity (3.05±1.14 IU/l) and weight abundance (2.73±0.26 IU/l) than in group with normal weight (1.52±0.34 IU/l) (P=0.02 and 0.01). Age was nearly the same in all groups. HOMA-IR was the highest in the group of obesity (4.67±1.12). In group I and II, HOMA-IR was statistically lower: 1.30±0.26 and 1.52±0.74 (P=0.002 and 0.05).

Conclusion: In patients suffering from heart ischemic disease and obesity, TSH level and HOMA-IR index were statistically higher than in patients with normal weight. We can propose that thyroid hormones may participate in mechanisms of peripheral insulin resistance.