Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity (Feb 2024)
Impaired Sensitivity to Thyroid Hormone and Risk of Carotid Plaque Development in a Chinese Health Check-Up Population: A Large Sample Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
Jiangling Wang,1,2,* Lijuan Yang,3,* Wei Liu,1 Chaogang Wei,1 Junkang Shen1 1Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Physical Diagnosis, Huadong Sanatorium, Wuxi, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Geriatric, Huadong Sanatorium, Wuxi, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Junkang Shen; Chaogang Wei, Department of radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 1055 Sanxiang Road, Soochow, 215004, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Previous research on the correlation between thyroid function and carotid plaque has revealed conflicting results, possibly attributable to the sensitivity of thyroid hormone indices. In this study, we aimed to analyze the association between thyroid hormone sensitivity indices and the risk of carotid plaque development in a Chinese health check-up population.Methods: A total of 19,388 health check-up subjects were included in this study (mean age: 50.78± 10.17 years). Central sensitivity to thyroid hormone was evaluated using the thyroid feedback quantile-based index (TFQI), the Chinese-referenced parametric TFQI (PTFQI), the TSH index (TSHI), and the thyrotropin thyroxine resistance index (TT4RI), while peripheral sensitivity to thyroid hormone was assessed by free triiodothyronine/free thyroxine (FT3/FT4) ratio. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to detect the association between thyroid hormone sensitivity indices and carotid plaque risk, and subgroup analysis was also conducted to explore this association stratified by sex, age, obesity, and the status of smoking, drinking, diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia.Results: Among the 19,388 participants, 3753 (19.4%) had carotid plaque. In multivariable adjustment models, the risk of carotid plaque was positively associated with TSHI (odds ratio [OR]: 1.23; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.18~1.28), TT4RI (OR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.23~1.33), TFQI (OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.02~1.10), and PTFQI (OR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.07~1.16), respectively. Conversely, the risk of carotid plaque was negatively correlated with FT3/FT4 (OR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.90~0.98). In stratified analyses, all thyroid hormone sensitivity indices significantly increased the risk of carotid plaque especially in females, subjects< 65 years, non-obese individuals, and those without current smoking, drinking, diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia.Conclusion: In Chinese health check-up populations, a considerable connection between reduced sensitivity to thyroid hormones and carotid plaque has been observed, especially in females, those younger than 65 years, non-obese individuals, and those without any current smoking, drinking, diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia.Keywords: carotid plaque, thyroid hormone sensitivity, euthyroid, resistance to thyroid hormone, Chinese population
