Vitamin D deficiency tied to thyroid disease among T2DM patients

Takeaway

• Obesity, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), the environment and genetic susceptibility among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) may increase the risk of thyroid disease and cancer.
• Study also suggests a strong positive associations between the vitamin D deficiency and thyroid diseases population among T2DM patients.

Why this matters

• Several studies have reported a positive correlation between vitamin D deficiency and thyroid dysfunction among patients with T2DM.

Study design

• Cohort case and control study of 1092 patients (T2DM, n=546; control, n=546) from March 2016 to May 2018.
• Funding: The Qatar Diabetes Association, Qatar Foundation.

Key results

• Significant differences between treatment and control groups were observed for BMI (P=.017), physical activity (P=.039), smoking (P=.022), sheesha smoking (P=.015), family history of diabetes (P=.001), hypertension (P=.004), and thyroid nodules (P=.021).
• Statistically significant differences between both the groups were observed for vitamin D, calcium, phosphorous, fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, low density lipoprotein (LDL), albumin, uric acid, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH; P<.001 for all), T3 (P=.010), T4 (P<.001), potassium (P=.011), high density lipoprotein (P=.034), triglyceride (P=.008), and systolic BP (SBP; P=.006).
• Predictors for thyroid disease among patients with T2DM were TSH (aOR, 4.41; P<.001), HbA1c (aOR, 3.67; P<.001), vitamin D deficiency (aOR, 3.34; P<.001), SBP (aOR, 2.70; P<.001), family history of T2DM (aOR, 2.41; P<.001), thyroid (aOR, 1.75; P=.010), BMI (aOR, 2.23; P=.005) and serum calcium level (aOR, 1.98; P=.008).

Limitations

• Risk for bias.