ECE2013 Poster Presentations Cardiovascular Endocrinology & Lipid Metabolism (41 abstracts)
TSH and arterial stiffness in healthy postmenopausal women
Eleni Armeni 1 , Kimon Stamatelopoulos 2 , Demetrios Rizos 3 , Georgios Georgiopoulos 2 , Maria Kazani 2 , Andreas Alexandrou 1 , Efthymios Deligeoroglou 1 , Alexandra Livada 4 , Charalampos Psychas 4 , Maria Creatsa 1 , George Bouboulis 1 , Maria Alevizaki 2 & Irene Lambrinoudaki 1
12nd Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aretaieio Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Attiki, Greece; 2Department of Therapeutics, Alexandra Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Attiki, Greece; 3Hormonal Laboratory, Aretaieio Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Attiki, Greece; 4Department of Statistics, Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Attiki, Greece.
Introduction: Thyroid dysfunction, whether overt or subclinical, has a significant effect on the cardiovascular system. On the other hand, fluctuation of thyroid hormones within the normal range has been associated with long-term health risks, and might have an impact on the vasculature. This study assessed the effect of thyroid hormones on surrogate markers of arterial structure and function in a sample of euthyroid postmenopausal women.
Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 106 healthy postmenopausal women with thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels within the laboratory reference range (0.4–4.5 μIU/ml). Blood samples were obtained for biochemical evaluation. Anthropometric measures and blood pressure were determined in each individual. Surrogate markers of vascular structure and function were assessed by intima-media thickness as well as pulse wave velocity (PWV), augmentation index and flow-mediated dilation, respectively. The associations between arterial markers and serum TSH, free thyroxin, free triiodothyronine, as well as serum thyroglobulin and thyroid peroxidise autoantibodies.
Results: A significant positive association was observed between mean measures of PWV and levels of TSH in quartiles (P value for linear trend 0.014). Significantly higher values of PWV were identified in subjects with serum TSH >2.5 μIU/ml when compared with subjects with TSH levels <2.5 μIU/ml (P value=0.030, univariate). In multivariate analysis, PWV was predicted by age, insulin resistance and TSH >2.5 μIU/ml (TSH, β-coefficient=0.222; P value=0.014). No associations were found between the remaining markers and levels of thyroid hormones, whereas thyroid antibodies were not associated with any of the arterial markers.
Conclusion: We demonstrated that serum TSH is an important predictor of arterial stiffness in euthyroid postmenopausal women. Women with TSH levels in the upper normal range have increased arterial stiffness compared to women with lower TSH. The upper limit of normal TSH in postmenopausal women may need reevaluation with respect to the effects on the vasculature.
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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