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Published in: BMC Endocrine Disorders 1/2021

Open Access 01-12-2021 | Hyperthyroidism | Research article

Thyroid function and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in hyperthyroidism patients

Authors: Bairong Wang, Baomin Wang, Yumei Yang, Jing Xu, Mengyang Hong, Mingfeng Xia, Xiaomu Li, Xin Gao

Published in: BMC Endocrine Disorders | Issue 1/2021

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Abstract

Background

Although thyroid function has been demonstrated to be associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in different population, the prevalence and features of NAFLD in hyperthyroidism have not been reported. The present study aims to investigate the prevalence of NAFLD and association of thyroid function and NAFLD in hyperthyroidism patients.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was performed in Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, China. A total 117 patients with hyperthyroidism were consecutively recruited from 2014 to 2015. Thyroid function and other clinical features were measured, liver fat content was measured by color Doppler ultrasonically, NAFLD was defined in patients with liver fat content more than 9.15%. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS software package version 13.0.

Results

The prevalence of NAFLD was 11.97% in hyperthyroidism. Patient with NAFLD had lower free triiodothyronine (FT3) and free thyroxine (FT4) levels than patients without NAFLD (P < 0.05). After adjusting for age, gender, metabolic parameters and inflammation factors, higher FT3 were associated with lower liver fat content (β = − 0.072, P = 0.009) and decreased odds ratio of NAFLD (OR = 0.267, 95%CI 0.087–0.817, P = 0.021).

Conclusions

FT3 level was negatively associated with the liver fat content in this population. These results may provide new evidence in the role of thyroid hormone on the regulation of liver fat content and NAFLD.
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Metadata
Title
Thyroid function and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in hyperthyroidism patients
Authors
Bairong Wang
Baomin Wang
Yumei Yang
Jing Xu
Mengyang Hong
Mingfeng Xia
Xiaomu Li
Xin Gao
Publication date
01-12-2021
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Endocrine Disorders / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6823
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12902-021-00694-w

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