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. 2016 Aug 26;13(9):850.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph13090850.

25 Hydroxyvitamin D Deficiency and Its Relationship to Autoimmune Thyroid Disease in the Elderly

Giovanna Muscogiuri  1 , Daniela Mari  2   3 , Silvia Prolo  4   5 , Letizia M Fatti  6 , Maria Celeste Cantone  7 , Paolo Garagnani  8   9 , Beatrice Arosio  10   11 , Carolina Di Somma  12 , Giovanni Vitale  13   14
Affiliations

25 Hydroxyvitamin D Deficiency and Its Relationship to Autoimmune Thyroid Disease in the Elderly

Giovanna Muscogiuri et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Low 25(OH) vitamin D levels have been associated with several autoimmune diseases and recently with autoimmune thyroiditis (AT). The aim of the study was to investigate the association of AT with low 25(OH) vitamin D levels in the elderly.

Methods: One hundred sixty-eight elderly subjects (mean age: 81.6 ± 9.4 years) were enrolled. Serum levels of 25(OH) vitamin D, anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO-Ab), anti-thyroglobulin (TG-Ab) antibodies, free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured.

Results: The prevalence of AT was significantly higher in subjects with vitamin D deficiency (25(OH) vitamin D < 20 ng/mL) when compared with subjects with normal 25(OH) vitamin D (25(OH) vitamin D ≥ 20 ng/mL) levels (28% vs. 8%, respectively, p = 0.002). Patients with AT and vitamin D deficiency had a comparable hormonal profile compared to patients with AT and vitamin D sufficiency in terms of TSH (p = 0.39), FT3 (p = 0.30), FT4 (p = 0.31), TG-Ab (0.44) and TPO-Ab (0.35). Interestingly, a significant correlation between 25(OH) vitamin D and TPO-Ab (r = -0.27, p = 0.03) and FT3 (r = 0.35, p = 0.006) has been found in subjects with AT while no correlation was found between 25(OH) vitamin D levels and TG-Ab (r = -0.15, p = 0.25), TSH (r = -0.014, p = 0.09) and FT4 (r = 0.13, p = 0.32).

Conclusions: These findings suggest that vitamin D deficiency was significantly associated with AT in the elderly. Therefore, the screening for AT should be suggested in subjects with vitamin D deficiency.

Keywords: autoimmune thyroid disease; elderly; environment; lifestyle; vitamin D.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interest. The authors declare no support from any commercial organization for the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Correlations between 25(OH)D concentration and TPO-Ab (r = −0.27, p = 0.03) (A) and FT3 (r = 0.35, p = 0.006) (B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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