January - March 2023, Volume 19, Issue 1

Yadollahzadeh M, Shakeri S, Heydari I, Khajavi A, Hosseini Shirvani S, Sarkheyl E, Eskandari M, Farrokhpour M

Impact of Covid-19 on Thyroid Function: Evidence from Iran

Acta Endo (Buc) 2023, 19 (1): 68-72
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2023.68

Context. We assessed the association between the severity of COVID-19 and the thyroid function, and the relationship of thyroid hormones with inflammatory markers in COVID-19 patients. Subjects and methods. This observational study contained 95 COVID-19 patients. The covariates of interest included the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and the total form of thyroid hormones thyroxine and triiodothyronine. Furthermore, the inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and lymphocyte were measured. To analyze the data, the t-test, the nonparametric test for comparing the medians, and the Spearman correlation were used. Results. The median (interquartile range) of ages was equal to 53 (41-66) years old, including 54 men (56.8 %). As the severity of COVID-19 progressed from moderate to severe, increasing, though non-significant, trends of thyroid dysfunction were observed, the most remarkable for TSH. The only significant association between thyroid hormones and inflammatory markers was a Spearman correlation of -0.28 between TSH and LDH. Moreover, a direct association was found between the severity of COVID-19 and the LDH levels (p-value<0.001). Conclusions. A direct relation between the severity of COVID-19 and the LDH level and a reverse association between the LDH level and the thyroid hormone, TSH was obtained. Key

Keywords: COVID-19, Thyroid function, Inflammation, Iran

Correspondence: Farrokhpour, MD, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Firoozgar Medical and Educational Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Vali-e-Asr Square, Behafarin Street, Tehran, Iran, E-mail: mohsenfrkh@gmail.com