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Long-term lithium treatment and thyroid antibodies: a controlled study
Christopher Baethge1, Holger Blumentritt, Anne Berghöfer
1Department of Psychiatry, Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders Program, Harvard Medical School, McLean Division of Massachusetts General Hospital, Belmont, Mass., USA.
Objective:
Because the role of thyroid autoimmunity in the development of lithium-induced thyroid dysfunction remains controversial, we compared the prevalence of thyroid autoantibodies in patients with affective disorders receiving long-term lithium maintenance therapy with that of age- and sex-matched controls.
Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional study with 100 adult patients with major affective disorders diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, revised (DSM-III-R), who were undergoing lithium therapy for 6 months or more at a specialized lithium university clinic and 100 age- and sex-matched controls with no history of an axis I psychiatric disorder. Serum autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb), thyroglobulin (TgAb) and TSH receptors (TRAb) were measured.
Results:
TPOAb were found in 7 patients and 11 controls, and TgAb were found in 8 patients and 15 controls. TRAb were not found in either group.
Conclusions:
In this sample of patients with affective disorders, long-term lithium treatment did not increase the prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity.