Objective: To investigate correlation of hypothyroidism with abnormalities in levels of lipid profile constituents in a tertiary care hospital.

Methods: This was a case control study. The study group (cases) comprised of 50 subjects with hypothyroidism (22 subclinical hypothyroid and 28 overt hypothyroid). A total of 25 healthy subjects (controls) were also included in the study. Adults patients aged 18-60 years either of sex and high TSH contents (>5 µIU/mL) were included in the study. Fasting (12 to 14 hours) blood specimen (5 ml) from ante-cubital vein by venipuncture method in a vaccutainer without anti-coagulant was collected and transferred to the laboratory under aseptic and cold conditions.

Results: Analysis of variance showed that T₃, T₄ and TSH were significantly (p<0.005) different among the groups. The post-hoc tests revealed that T₃ was found to be significantly (p<0.01) higher among controls (106.94±29.36) than overt hypothyroid (65.55 ± 37.83) patients. The post-hoc tests revealed that cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides were significantly (p<0.01) different to each other groups. T₃ and T₄ were significantly (p<0.01) negatively correlated with all the lipid profile evaluated. However, TSH was significantly (p=0.0005) positively correlated with all the lipid profile evaluated.

Conclusion: Hypothyroid patients with decreased levels of T3 & T4 and increased levels of TSH are more susceptible to hypercholesterolemia, hyper triglyceridemia, compared to overt hypothyroid.

Keywords: Hypothyroidism, Lipid profile, Correlation.

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Dr Krishna Narayan Tiwari