Relationship of metabolic syndrome and its components with thyroid dysfunction in Algerian patients

The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its compounds in subjects with different thyroid status.

A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in the internal medicine department at El Okbi Hospital of Guelma (East of Algeria) from January 2014 to September 2015. Eighty six patients attending the specialist consultation for suspected thyroid disorders were included in the study. Gender; blood pressure; body mass index; and serum levels of fasting glucose, total cholesterol (TC), high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride were compared between subjects with hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism and euthyroidism.

Thyroid dysfunction was found in 59.3% (n=42) patients, hypothyroidism (45.3%) was the major thyroid dysfunction followed by hyperthyroidism (14.0%). Overall, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 48.8% (n=42). Subjects with hypothyroidism had significantly higher level of BMI, WC, TC, LDL-C, and higher prevalence of abdominal obesity (84.6%, p<0.01) and hypertension (51.2%, p<0.05). The hyperthyroid group had significantly lower level of TC, LDL-C and HDL-C but a higher level of SBP and UA. Furthermore, abdominal obesity, hypertension and low HDL-C level were the most common metabolic syndrome compounds found in the hyperthyroid group compared to the euthyroid group. We found a positive association between TSH level and the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome.