Comorbidity of endocrine disorders in children with chronic liver disease visiting Children’s hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Introduction: Many studies over the last two decades have dealt with the comorbidity of chronic liver disease (CLD) and endocrine disorders. Nevertheless, regional differences can affect the prevalence and etiology of diseases and their complications. Objectives: Since no similar study has been conducted in Tabriz (a populous city in Iran), this study aimed to address the comorbidity of hormonal disorders in children with CLD visiting Children’s hospital of Tabriz (a center in northwest Iran). Patients and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on children (2-18 years old) with CLD who visited Children’s hospital of Tabriz in 2019-2020. Of them, 60 children were randomly selected as the sample. First, the status of endocrines was examined, and then its association with CLD was determined. Results: The mean Insulin-like growth factor (IGF 1) of participants in all age groups was lower than the standard range. There was no significant difference between participants with different endocrine disorders in the levels of calcium, phosphorus, albumin, parathyroid hormone (PTH), total protein, cholesterol, triglyceride, growth hormone, and fasting blood sugar as well as the results of thyroid function tests. However, there was a significant difference between participants with different types of endocrine disorders in terms of IGF 1 (P=0.018). The highest and the lowest mean values of IGF 1 were observed in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) (520.59±12.52 ng/dL) and patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (142.95±3.96 ng/dL), respectively. Conclusion: Autoimmune hepatitis was the most common chronic disease among the participants of this study. CLD causes a decrease in IGF1 level and it is responsible for about one-third of all bone fractures; however, overt diabetes and thyroid diseases were not observed in these patients.