| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
|
| Year : 2015 | Volume
: 43
| Issue : 2 | Page : 46-51 |
|
|
Low serum free and total tri-iodothyronine hormones as possible prognostic factors in liver cirrhotic patients because of chronic hepatitis C
Abd-Allah A El-Sawy, Mohamed A Tawfik MD
Hepatogastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Tanta University Hospital, Tanta, Egypt
Correspondence Address:
Mohamed A Tawfik
Hepatogastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Tanta University Hospital, Tanta
Egypt
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1110-1415.158048
|
|
|
Background and aim
Liver and thyroid hormones are powerfully correlated; thus, thyroid hormone abnormalities are found in patients with liver diseases. We evaluated serum thyroid hormone levels in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) cirrhotic patients with and without hepatic encephalopathy.
Patients and methods
Our study was carried out on 100 patients with CHC-related liver cirrhosis (66 men and 34 women). They were divided into three groups: group I, which included 40 patients proved to have liver cirrhosis because of CHC with hepatic encephalopathy (26 men and 14 women), group II, which included 60 patients proved to have liver cirrhosis because of CHC without hepatic encephalopathy (40 men and women), and group III, the control group, which included 20 healthy individuals (12 men and eight women). Free tri-iodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), total T3, total T4, and thyrotropine-stimulating hormone (TSH) were tested.
Results
Group I and group II showed a significant decrease in T3 and FT3 levels compared with the controls (group III), whereas there was no difference in serum T4, TSH, and FT4 levels. All the patients (group I) had significantly reduced levels of T3 and FT3 compared with group II, whereas there was no difference in T4, FT4, and TSH levels.
Conclusion
Patients with CHC cirrhosis have significantly lower serum FT3 and T3. Patients with hepatic encephalopathy were found to have very low serum T3 and FT3 levels. Decreased serum T3 and FT3 levels, together with a prolonged prothrombin time and hypoalbuminemia, therefore appear to be characteristic of decompensated cirrhotic patients prone to developing hepatic encephalopathy. |
|
|
|
| [FULL TEXT] [PDF]* |
|
 |
|
