Journal of Islamic International Medical College (Dec 2017)
Levels of Homocysteine and Lipid Profile in Subclinical Hypothyroidism
Abstract
Objective: To measure the serum levels of homocysteine and lipid profile in patients of subclinical hypothyroidism. Study Design: A case control observational study. Place and Duration of Study: The Study was conducted in Biochemistry Department of Islamic International Medical College, Rawalpindi during a period of one year from March 2016 to February 2017. Materials and Methods: A total of 128 subjects were selected for the study from the medical outpatient department using convenient non probability sampling technique. Selection criterion was age group of 20 to 55 years and exclusion criteria were history of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular or renal disease. Selected patients were divided into twogroups. In group I (selected as control) were sixty four healthy volunteers who presented for routine annual medical and physical examination. In group II (patient's group) were 64 patients diagnosed as subclinical hypothyroidism based upon thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels >4.12 mU/mL and normal free T3 (FT3) and T4 (FT4) levels on two consecutive measurements.Lipid profile and homocysteine levels in the serum of the subjects of both groups were estimated. The collected data was entered in SPSS version 21 for analysis. Descriptive data were given as mean ± standard deviation (SD). Independent t test was used and p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Group I (control) consisted of 82.81% females and 17.18% males. In group II (sub clinical hypothyroid patients) were 87.5% females and 12.5% males. The mean ages of controls and subclinical hypothyroid patients were 33.65±5.98 and 35.20±7.55 years respectively. There was a significant increase in mean tHcy in subclinical hypothyroid patients than in control group (Mean ± SD, 12.67±2.35 μmol /l vs 3.76±1.59 μmol/l). Serum total cholesterol in subclinical hypothyroid patients was significantly increased than the control group (Mean ± SD, 195.25 ± 10.63 mg/dl vs 162.05 ± 17.39 mg/dl). There was a significant decrease in mean HDL-Cholesterol in subclinical hypothyroid patients than in control group (Mean ± SD, 48.11 ± 4.62 mg/dl vs 53.85 ± 6.55 mg/dl). There was a decrease in mean serum triglyceride in hypothyroid patients than in control group which was not statistically significant (Mean ± SD, 111.25 ± 18.82 mg/dl vs 140.29 ± 17.69 mg/dl). Conclusion: It was found in our study that the serum levels of homocysteine and lipid profile are increased in subclinical hypothyroidism.
