Lipid profile alterations in subclinical hypothyroidism

There is controversy regarding the clinical significance of subclinical hypothyroidisin, and lipid changes are one of the abnormalities described in this disease. The authors evaluated alterations in the lipid profile in a group of patients with subclinical hypothyroidism. Fifty-two patients with subclinical hypothyroidism were compared with 98 healthy controls matched by body mass index, age, and sex. A third-generation thyroid-stimulating hormone assay and serum lipid levels-total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c), apoprotein A, lipoprotein (a), apoprotein B (apo B), TC/HDL, and LDL/HDL ratio-were measured. Subclinical hypothyroid patients had higher (P < 0.05) TC, LDL-c, TG, apo B levels, TC/HDL and LDL/HDL ratio compared with the control group. There were no differences in relation to HDL-c, apoprotein A, and lipoprotein (a). There was an association between subclinical hypothyroidism and TC > 200 and TG > 200 mg/dL; 55.7% of the patients had hypercholesterolemia as compared with 34.6% in the control group (P = 0.01) and 17.3% of patients had hypertriglyceridemia compared with 5.1% in the control group (P = 0.01). The authors conclude that subclinical hypothyroidism is associated with elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels and high total cholesterol/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios.