Hypothyroidism and autoimmune thyroid disorders in rheumatoıd arthritis: relationship wıth disease activity

Abstract

Background and aims: Thyroid function abnormalities and thyroid autoantibodies have previously been described in rheumatoid arthirits (RA) with limited data. In some studies, a relationship was found between thyroid autoantibodies and RA disease activity. However, there are not strong studies in the literature indicating the relationship between thyroid diseases and RA. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of hypothyroidism and to investigate the relationship between thyroid hormone levels, autoantibodies and disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Keywords

• autoimmune thyroid disease
• hypothyroidism
• rheumatoid arthritis
• autoantibodies
• disease activity score