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The Relationship between Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Related Thyroid Diseases

Chaoxun Wang1

  • 1Department of Endocrinology, Shanghai Pudong Hospital, Fudan University Pudong Medical Center, 2800 Gongwei Road, Huinan Town, Pudong, Shanghai 201399, China.

Journal of Diabetes Research
|May 15, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Thyroid dysfunction contributes to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by causing insulin resistance. Thyroid hormone analogues show promise as potential therapeutics for metabolic disorders like T2DM.

Area of Science:

  • Endocrinology
  • Metabolic Disorders
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and thyroid dysfunction share overlapping pathologies.
  • Thyroid hormone abnormalities are increasingly recognized as contributors to T2DM development.
  • Insulin resistance is a key factor linking thyroid dysfunction and impaired glucose metabolism.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the intricate relationship between thyroid dysfunction and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
  • To explore the role of insulin resistance as a mediator between these conditions.
  • To review the therapeutic potential of thyroid hormone analogues in metabolic disorders.

Main Methods:

  • Review of preclinical, molecular, and clinical studies.
  • Analysis of genetic expression and physiological aberrations.
  • Evaluation of existing literature on thyroid hormone effects on glucose metabolism.

Main Results:

  • Thyroid dysfunction contributes to T2DM through impaired glucose utilization, hepatic glucose overproduction, and enhanced splanchnic glucose absorption, leading to insulin resistance.
  • Both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism are associated with insulin resistance, a primary driver of T2DM.
  • Thyroid malfunctioning is a significant comorbidity of T2DM.

Conclusions:

  • Insulin resistance is central to the association between T2DM and thyroid dysfunction.
  • Thyroid hormone analogues are under investigation as novel therapeutic agents for T2DM, obesity, and atherosclerosis.
  • Targeting thyroid hormone pathways may offer a new class of drugs for metabolic disorders.

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