J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2022 Feb 25:dgac110. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgac110. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Subclinical hypothyroidism is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality. However, the longitudinal association between subclinical hypothyroidism and incident metabolic syndrome remains unclear yet.
METHODS: A total of 3,615 participants from Beijing Health Management Cohort (BHMC) were enrolled from 2012 to 2014, and followed through 2019. People were grouped into subclinical hypothyroidism and euthyroidism according to serum free thyroxine and thyrotropin (TSH) concentrations. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to investigate the relationship between TSH level and incident metabolic syndrome considering the modification effect of sex and age.
RESULTS: Of 3,615 participants, 1,929 were men (53.4%); mean (SD) age was 43.51 (11.73) years. Through out follow-up (median [interquartile range], 3.0 [2.8-3.2] years), 738 individuals developed metabolic syndrome. Subclinical hypothyroidism was significantly associated with metabolic syndrome development only in men, and the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.87 (95% CI: 1.21-2.90) compared with euthyroidism group. Of note, there was no increased risk of metabolic syndrome in people aged 50 years or older with subclinical hypothyroidism.
CONCLUSIONS: Subclinical hypothyroidism is associated with incident metabolic syndrome in young men. Further studies are needed to evaluate the targeted threshold and benefit of thyroid hormone replacement therapy for metabolic health.
PMID:35213715 | DOI:10.1210/clinem/dgac110
