Clin Mol Hepatol.
2015 Dec;21(4):372-378. 10.3350/cmh.2015.21.4.372.
Impact of hypothyroidism on the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A 4-year retrospective cohort study
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Gastroenterology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. choyk2004.cho@samsung.com
- 2Department of Endocrinology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- 3Department of Radiology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- 4Department of Biostatistics, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- 5Department of Gastroenterology, Dankook University Hospital, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.
- KMID: 2359819
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.3350/cmh.2015.21.4.372
Abstract
- BACKGROUND/AIMS
Hypothyroidism is reported to contribute to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We compared the risk of the development of NAFLD among three groups with different thyroid hormonal statuses (control, subclinical hypothyroidism, and overt hypothyroidism) in a 4-year retrospective cohort of Korean subjects.
METHODS
Apparently healthy Korean subjects without NAFLD and aged 20-65 years were recruited (n=18,544) at health checkups performed in 2008. Annual health checkups were applied to the cohort for 4 consecutive years until December 2012. Based on their initial serum-free thyroxine (fT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, they were classified into control, subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH >4.2 mIU/L, normal fT4), and overt hypothyroidism (TSH >4.2 mIU/L, fT4 <0.97 ng/dL) groups. NAFLD was diagnosed on the basis of ultrasonography findings.
RESULTS
NAFLD developed in 2,348 of the 18,544 subjects, representing an overall incidence of 12.7%: 12.8%, 11.0%, 12.7% in the control, subclinical hypothyroidism, and overt hypothyroidism groups, respectively. The incidence of NAFLD did not differ significantly with the baseline thyroid hormonal status, even after multivariate adjustment (subclinical hypothyroidism group: hazard ratio [HR]=0.965, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.814-1.143, P=0.67; overt hypothyroidism group: HR=1.255, 95% CI=0.830-1.899, P=0.28).
CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that the subclinical and overt types of hypothyroidism are not related to an increased incidence of NAFLD.
MeSH Terms
-
Adult
Aged
Cohort Studies
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Hypothyroidism/*complications/*diagnosis
Incidence
Kaplan-Meier Estimate
Liver/ultrasonography
Male
Middle Aged
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/*complications/*diagnosis/epidemiology
Proportional Hazards Models
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Thyrotropin/analysis
Thyroxine/analysis
Thyrotropin
Thyroxine
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