Relationship between Iron Profile and Thyroid Profile in Hypothyroid Patients

Abstract

Introduction: Thyroid hormone biosynthesis is dependent on iron metabolism. Changes in iron metabolism and its deficiency may cause a change in the profile of thyroid hormone. Such interferences caused can lead to hypothyroidism in case of anaemia or the other way round. Aim: To find a relationship between various parameters of iron profile to that of thyroid profile in hypothyroid patients when compared to normal healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: Present case-control study was conducted on 50 hypothyroid patients and 50 healthy subjects of same age, in the Department of Endocrinology, IGIMS, Patna between April 2017 to June 2018. Serum ferritin and Serum T3, T4, and Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) were estimated by Chemiluminescence Immuno Assay (CLIA) method. Serum iron estimation was done using TPTZ (2,4,6-Tripyridyl-s-triazine) method and Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) estimation was done by Nitroso PSAP method. All statistical test and analysis were performed in Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) 16.0. The differences between mean values of groups for each test variable were tested by Student’s t-test after testing for homogeneity of variance and normality test (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test). Results: The mean age of the hypothyroid patients was 30.28±10.5 years while it was 31.14±10.4 years in control group. It was observed from the study that mean serum ferritin level and iron level were significantly lower in hypothyroid subjects compared to control groups (p<0.001) while TIBC was significantly higher (p<0.001). Serum ferritin and iron were found to be negatively correlated with TSH (-0.695 and -0.541) and positively correlated to T3 and T4, respectively. Conclusion: Evaluating iron profile in thyroid disorder may be an aid to the treatment modality and disease outcome