Endocrine Abstracts

Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) is a thyroid-specific autoimmune disorder, and the most common cause of hypothyroidism in a population with an adequate dietary intake. Despite the current conventional treatment focused on the permanent replacement of levothyroxine (LT4) deficiency, it appears that thyroid autoimmunity remains the cause of persistent symptoms in patients with HT, even when they achieve to be in biochemically euthyroid state. Photobiomodulation (PBM) showed to be an effective additional therapy in treatment of autoimmune diseases, but with limited evidence. Hence, our study was conducted to appraise the efficacy of PBM therapy with supplements in restoring thyroid gland homeostasis in patients with HT compared with supplements alone. Seventy-four female subjects aged between 20 and 50 years old were recruited and divided equally into two groups: PBM+conventional treatment group (group 1); and conventional tretament alone group (group 2). The PBM dosimetry and treatment protocols were as follows: wavelength, 820 nm; power output, 200 mW; continuous emission mode; irradiating time, 20 s per point; fluence, 32 J/cm2 per point; treatment frequency, twice a week (excluding weekends); and treatment duration, three consecutive weeks. Whereas, both groups had the conventional treatment protocol, as follows: An appropriate dose of LT4 determined before their enrolment, subjects with a serum level of vitamin D3 <40 ng/dl, received replacement according to their serum levels, and all the subjects had a daily intake of 100 μg of oral selenium. The biochemical (FT3, FT4, antiTPO and antiTG) and anthropometric measurements were evaluated before, after three-months and after six-months follow-up. Our findings showed significant improvement in group 1 parameters (PBM+ convenentional) compared with group 2 (conventional only) in terms of reduction in the following parameters: TSH, antiTPO, antiTG, treatment dose of LT4, BMI, hip and waist circumference, waist/hip ratio (p<0.05). Our results, for the first time, demonstrated an efficacy of PBM delivered at a lower fluence with supplements in restoring thyroid function, anthropometric parameters and lifestyle factors in patients with HT. Hence, extensive studies with a longer follow-up period are warranted.

Keywords: Hashimoto thyroiditis; photobiomodulation; autoimmune thyroiditis; Data from the study are published in August 2023 in Journal of Personalized Medicine: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/13/8/1274