ESPE Abstracts

Background and aim: Hypothyroidism could be accountable for cardiovascular diseases; hence, necessity of novel biomarkers being capable to predict patient’s status is indispensable. The aim of this study was to appraise alteration of plasma visfatin levels (as a newly discovered proteins) and its association with lipid profiles of hypothyroid patients.

Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study, 30 children being 3–18 years with levels of serum TSH ≥6.4 mIU/l were enrolled. Initially T₄, T₃, TSH, anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO), anti-thyroglobolin (anti TG), visfatin, triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL, HDL, apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), and ApoB as well as BMI of every subject were determined and they were assigned either in overt or subclinical cohorts; afterwards, appropriate doses of levothyroxine were administered. Three months later, all of the above-mentioned criteria (except for anti-TPO and anti-TG) were assessed.

Results: Mean age of the patients, which included 16 females and 14 males, was 10.2±5.2 years, while subclinical cases exceeded overt hypothyroid patients (24 and six cases respectively). Anti-TPO subjects surpassed and anti TG ones (11 and eight individuals respectively). Patient’s treatment led to significant decrease of plasma visfatin, ApoB, TG, cholesterol, and LDL (P<0.05). Alternatively, HDL and ApoA1 increased as a result of our treatment (P<0.05); however, BMI remained unchanged. Not only before our treatment, but also after this procedure, plasma visfatin variations did not correlated with patient’s lipid profile (P>0.05).

Discussion and conclusion: This study showed that plasma visfatin could be suggested as a predictive risk factor of cardiovascular diseases in hypothyroid patients.