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Endocrinology and Metabolism (Seoul,... Jun 2016Genetic factors contribute for about 70% to 80% and environmental factors for about 20% to 30% to the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD). Relatives of... (Review)
Review
Genetic factors contribute for about 70% to 80% and environmental factors for about 20% to 30% to the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD). Relatives of AITD patients carry a risk to contract AITD themselves. The 5-year risk can be quantified by the so-called Thyroid Events Amsterdam-score, based on serum thyroid-stimulating hormone, thyroid peroxidase (TPO)-antibodies and family history. Subjects at risk may ask what they can do to prevent development of AITD. This review summarizes what is known about modulation of exposure to environmental factors in terms of AITD prevention. To stop smoking decreases the risk on Graves disease but increases the risk on Hashimoto disease. Moderate alcohol intake provides some protection against both Graves and Hashimoto disease. Low selenium intake is associated with a higher prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity, but evidence that selenium supplementation may lower TPO antibodies and prevent subclinical hypothyroidism remains inconclusive. Low serum vitamin D levels are associated with a higher prevalence of TPO antibodies, but intervention studies with extra vitamin D have not been done yet. Stress may provoke Graves hyperthyroidism but not Hashimoto thyroiditis. Estrogen use have been linked to a lower prevalence of Graves disease. The postpartum period is associated with an increased risk of AITD. Taking together, preventive interventions to diminish the risk of AITD are few, not always feasible, and probably of limited efficacy.
PubMed: 27184015
DOI: 10.3803/EnM.2016.31.2.213 -
Lancet (London, England) Aug 2016Hyperthyroidism is characterised by increased thyroid hormone synthesis and secretion from the thyroid gland, whereas thyrotoxicosis refers to the clinical syndrome of... (Review)
Review
Hyperthyroidism is characterised by increased thyroid hormone synthesis and secretion from the thyroid gland, whereas thyrotoxicosis refers to the clinical syndrome of excess circulating thyroid hormones, irrespective of the source. The most common cause of hyperthyroidism is Graves' disease, followed by toxic nodular goitre. Other important causes of thyrotoxicosis include thyroiditis, iodine-induced and drug-induced thyroid dysfunction, and factitious ingestion of excess thyroid hormones. Treatment options for Graves' disease include antithyroid drugs, radioactive iodine therapy, and surgery, whereas antithyroid drugs are not generally used long term in toxic nodular goitre, because of the high relapse rate of thyrotoxicosis after discontinuation. β blockers are used in symptomatic thyrotoxicosis, and might be the only treatment needed for thyrotoxicosis not caused by excessive production and release of the thyroid hormones. Thyroid storm and hyperthyroidism in pregnancy and during the post-partum period are special circumstances that need careful assessment and treatment.
Topics: Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; Amiodarone; Antithyroid Agents; Diagnosis, Differential; Drug Administration Schedule; Female; Graves Disease; Humans; Hyperthyroidism; Iodine Radioisotopes; Patient Care Team; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Risk Factors; Thyroid Crisis; Thyroid Gland; Thyroid Hormones; Thyroidectomy; Thyrotoxicosis
PubMed: 27038492
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00278-6 -
International Journal of Endocrinology 2016Purposes. To evaluate the effects of thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) on maternal and neonatal adverse outcomes in pregnant women. Methods. 208 pregnant women at...
Purposes. To evaluate the effects of thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) on maternal and neonatal adverse outcomes in pregnant women. Methods. 208 pregnant women at 24-28 weeks were divided into two groups, TPOAb-positive and TPOAb-negative groups. Thyroid function and TPOAb were determined in all subjects until 12 months postpartum. Levothyroxine was supplemented to maintain euthyroid with periodical checking of thyroid functions. The prevalence of postpartum thyroiditis (PPT), placenta previa, placental abruption, premature rupture of membrane, postpartum haemorrhage, polyhydramnios, oligohydramnios, preterm birth, low birth weight, congenital hypothyroidism, and neonatal diseases were observed in two groups. Results. Of all women, 11.54% had a PPT. The prevalence of PPT was significantly higher in TPOAb-positive than TPOAb-negative group (42.31% versus 7.14%, P < 0.001), with 45.46% and 53.85% of PPT happening at 6 weeks postpartum in TPOAb-positive and TPOAb-negative groups. The incidence of polyhydramnios was significantly higher in TPOAb-positive than TPOAb-negative group (15.38% versus 2.74%, P = 0.02). Conclusion. Pregnant women with TPOAb-positive had increased risk of PPT, predominantly happening at 6 weeks postpartum. TPOAb was associated with increased incidence of polyhydramnios and the underlying mechanisms required further investigation. Earlier screening of thyroid function during pregnancy and postpartum was warranted in our region.
PubMed: 26884759
DOI: 10.1155/2016/6461380 -
International Journal of Bipolar... Dec 2016Mood disorders and circulating thyroid antibodies are very prevalent in the population and their concomitant occurrence may be due to chance. However, thyroid antibodies...
Mood disorders and circulating thyroid antibodies are very prevalent in the population and their concomitant occurrence may be due to chance. However, thyroid antibodies have been repeatedly hypothesized to play a role in specific forms of mood disorders. Potentially related forms include treatment-refractory cases, severe or atypical depression, and depression at specific phases of a woman's life (early gestation, postpartum depression, perimenopausal). With regard to bipolar disorder, studies of specific subgroups (rapid cycling, mixed, or depressive bipolar) have reported associations with thyroid antibodies. Offspring of bipolar subjects were found more vulnerable to develop thyroid antibodies independently from the vulnerability to develop psychiatric disorders. A twin study suggested thyroid antibodies among possible endophenotypes for bipolar disorder. Severe encephalopathies have been reported in association with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Cases with pure psychiatric presentation are being reported, the antithyroid antibodies being probably markers of some other autoimmune disorders affecting the brain. Vasculitis resulting in abnormalities in cortical perfusion is one of the possible mechanisms.
PubMed: 26869176
DOI: 10.1186/s40345-016-0046-4 -
Journal of Thyroid Research 2015Problem. Clinical features of Graves' hyperthyroidism (GH) generally improve during pregnancy and rebound in the postpartum period. It is unclear whether the...
Problem. Clinical features of Graves' hyperthyroidism (GH) generally improve during pregnancy and rebound in the postpartum period. It is unclear whether the ophthalmopathy that is associated with GH and, less often, Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) changes in parallel with the thyroid associated antibody reactions and clinical features or runs a different course. Method of Study. We retrospectively studied 19 patients with autoimmune thyroid disease over 22 pregnancies: 9 pregnancies with GH and 13 with HT. Ophthalmopathy was defined by NOSPECS class. Results. Thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and thyroglobulin (Tg) antibody titres decreased during pregnancy and rose in the postpartum period. During pregnancy, 5 patients with GH and 4 patients with HT developed mild ophthalmopathy and two patients with GH and HT developed new upper eyelid retraction (UER). In the postpartum period, eye scores improved in 3 patients with GH and 3 with HT, remained stable in two and 5 patients, respectively, and worsened in 2 patients with GH and one with HT. Conclusions. In patients with mild to moderate eye signs associated with GH and HT, the orbital and thyroid reactions ran different courses during pregnancy. Since no patient had severe ophthalmopathy, we cannot draw definitive conclusions from this preliminary study.
PubMed: 26798548
DOI: 10.1155/2015/698470 -
Frontiers in Endocrinology 2015During pregnancy, the thyroid gland must produce 50% more thyroid hormone to maintain the euthyroid state. Women with decreased thyroid reserve preconception, most... (Review)
Review
During pregnancy, the thyroid gland must produce 50% more thyroid hormone to maintain the euthyroid state. Women with decreased thyroid reserve preconception, most typically due to Hashimoto's thyroiditis, may develop hypothyroidism during pregnancy. Data over the last 20 years have reported a strong association between subclinical hypothyroidism and adverse maternal/fetal events. As a result of this association, an increasing number of women are being screened for thyroid disease either preconception or at the first prenatal visit. Consequently, an ever increasing number of women are being initiated on levothyroxine for the first time during pregnancy. At present, there are very limited guidelines related to the management of the thyroid disease in these women postpartum. Based on an understanding of the physiology of the thyroid gland during pregnancy and postpartum, and the personal clinical experience of the author, recommendations for the postpartum management of women who were started on levothyroxine during pregnancy are presented.
PubMed: 26648909
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2015.00183 -
Medicine Sep 2015Autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) are common autoimmune disorders. A few studies have analyzed the association between serum vitamin D levels and AITD, and available... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
Autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) are common autoimmune disorders. A few studies have analyzed the association between serum vitamin D levels and AITD, and available data remain inconclusive. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between serum vitamin D levels and 3 types of AITD, that is Graves' disease (GD), Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), and postpartum thyroiditis (PPT). Two independent case-control studies were designed. The first is a cross-sectional case-control study in which we examined the levels of 25(OH)D in patients with newly diagnosed GD or HT and in controls; the second is a nested case-control study in which we compared 25(OH)D levels in 610 women who developed PPT during the follow-up after delivery and those who did not. Compared with the controls, GD patients and HT patients had significantly lower 25(OH)D levels. PPT cases also had a lower serum 25(OH)D concentration than controls. Serum 25(OH)D levels were associated with neither antithyroid peroxidase antibody nor antithyroglobulin antibody in GD and HT. There was no significant relationship between thyroid-stimulating hormone and 25(OH)D levels. Every 5 nmol/L increase in serum 25(OH)D concentrations was associated with a 1.55-, 1.62-, and 1.51-fold reduction in GD, HT, and PPT risk, respectively. We observed a lower serum vitamin D levels in AITD patients compared with controls. The lower the vitamin D level is, not vitamin D deficiency per se, the higher the risk for developing AITD will be. However, vitamin D does not have strong association with the titers of thyroid antibodies or the levels of thyroid hormones.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Autoantibodies; Case-Control Studies; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Graves Disease; Hashimoto Disease; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Postpartum Thyroiditis; Receptors, Thyrotropin; Thyroid Hormones; Vitamin D; Young Adult
PubMed: 26426654
DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000001639 -
Case Reports in Endocrinology 2015Over an 8-year period, a male patient presented three times to an endocrinologist with strikingly similar presentations, including palpitations, anxiety, and tremors....
Over an 8-year period, a male patient presented three times to an endocrinologist with strikingly similar presentations, including palpitations, anxiety, and tremors. Each of his presentations occurred following either the birth of one of his two children or his wife's late termination of pregnancy. This patient's illness followed the typical time course of silent thyroiditis: hyperthyroidism, followed by euthyroidism, a late hypothyroid phase, and then a complete resolution of symptoms and normalization of thyroid function tests over a period of several months. We discuss the curious clinical presentation, diagnostic evaluation, and a literature review of alternate explanations for this patient's condition, including a discussion of the impact of seasonal shift, spousal's autoimmune disease, stress, and evolutionary changes in males postpartum. Although the differential diagnosis is broad in this case and the thyrotoxicosis could have coincidentally followed pregnancies of the patient's wife, documented hormonal changes in men during postpartum period in conjunction with the timeline of the patient's condition are suggestive of recurrent "sympathetic" postpartum thyroiditis. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of recurrent painless thyroiditis in a man following pregnancies of his wife with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
PubMed: 26421199
DOI: 10.1155/2015/940241 -
Journal of Natural Science, Biology,... 2015We assessed the impact of detecting anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (anti-TPO-Ab) in the first trimester of pregnancy on pregnancy outcomes and maternal thyroid...
AIMS
We assessed the impact of detecting anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (anti-TPO-Ab) in the first trimester of pregnancy on pregnancy outcomes and maternal thyroid function during the postpartum period.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In a prospective study consisting 400 pregnant women (8-12 weeks pregnant) were screened for their thyroid profile and followed-up to 12 weeks postpartum. Patients with abnormal thyroid function at 12 weeks postpartum were further followed-up with repeated assessment of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and serum-free thyroxine-4 levels at 8 weeks interval up to 12 months postpartum.
RESULTS
11.5% of the subjects were positive for anti-TPO-Ab who had mean TSH level of 2.31 μIU/ml, which was significantly (P- 0.0001) higher than pregnant women negative for anti-TPO-Ab (1.73 μIU/ml). Increased incidence of miscarriage was observed in anti-TPO positive mothers when compared to antibody negative mothers. Postpartum thyroid dysfunction developed in 4.7% cases at 12 weeks, among them antibody positivity was observed in 81.25% of subjects. In 18.75% mothers positive for anti-TPO-Ab, the thyroid dysfunction persisted up to 12 months postpartum.
CONCLUSIONS
Thyroid antibodies detected in early pregnancy seems to be predicting pregnancy complications and later maternal thyroid disease related morbidity.
PubMed: 26283839
DOI: 10.4103/0976-9668.160021 -
Case Reports in Infectious Diseases 2015Thyroid gland infection, although rare, may be a life threatening disease. Thyroid abscess, arising from acute suppurative thyroiditis (AST), is a rare clinic condition...
Thyroid gland infection, although rare, may be a life threatening disease. Thyroid abscess, arising from acute suppurative thyroiditis (AST), is a rare clinic condition depending on widespread use of antibiotics. Infection may involve one or both lobes and abscess formation may not be apparent until late stage of the progress of illness. Thyroid left lobe is more often affected than the right one. Brucellosis, especially obvious in endemic areas, is a widely seen zoonosis around the world. Although brucella infection can affect many organs through various complications, thyroid gland infection is rare. We aimed to present ultrasonography (USG) and magnetic resonance images (MRI) of a case with an acute thyroiditis which rapidly developed and grew fast on the left half of the neck during the first postpartum month. As far as we know from literature reviewing, our case is the first case report of a thyroid abscess arising from brucella infection which is developed in first postpartum period with images of ultrasonography and MRI.
PubMed: 25861492
DOI: 10.1155/2015/646209