Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) are multifaceted conditions in which the thyroid gland is infiltrated by lymphocytes resulting in the production of thyroid-specific auto-antibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb) and thyroglobulin (TGAb). Iron deficiency (ID) is considered to be the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide and has multiple effects on thyroid metabolism.

Aim: The goal of this study is to measure the prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disease and hypothyroidism in patients with iron deficiency.

Methods: 72 patients, aged 21-56 (all female) were included in the study. The complete blood count results of the patients mentioned above, revealed low levels of hemoglobin, hematocrit, MCV (mean corpuscular volume) and iron. A diagnosis of ID was concluded. Following the diagnosis, the levels of TSH, TPOAb and TGAb were checked to determine whether the patients were also suffering from AITD and hypothyroidism.

Results: After evaluating the test results, it was revealed that 43 of the women enrolled in the study had autoimmune thyroid disease and hypothyroidism. That is ≈60% of all the patients.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that ID has the possibility to affect thyroid function and therefore can be linked to AITD and hypothyroidism.