Abstract: Background: Hormones of the thyroid gland play an important role in the regulation of various metabolic processes. Disturbances in thyroid hormone concentrations may lead to hyperlipidemia and obesity, thus contributing to NAFLD. Aim: To evaluate thyroid dysfunction and determine its possible relationship to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in obese adults. Methods: our cross-sectional study recruited 100 obese patients, patients were subjected to a full medical history, physical examination, abdominal ultrasonography as well as routine laboratory tests in addition to liver function and thyroid function testing. NAFLD was recognized on the basis of ultrasonographic findings, and in the absence of other causes of liver disease. Results: Patients was divided in two groups, Group 1 (65 patients) with NAFLD and Group 2 (35 patients) without NAFLD. Out of 100 patients recruited in the study; the most common thyroid dysfunction was overt hypothyroidism (22%) followed by (9%) had subclinical hypothyroidism. 26 patients with NAFLD (40%) were found to have thyroid dysfunction, of them 8 NAFLD patients (12.3%) had subclinical hypothyroidism and 18 NAFLD patients (27.7%) had overt hypothyroidism. Although Prevalence of thyroid dysfunction (whether overt hypothyroidism or subclinical hypothyroidism) was 22 % and 9 % respectively among patients with obesity, there was non-significant positive correlation between BMI and TSH (r= 0.051 and P=0.612). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that; fatty liver , obesity index and dyslipedemia were predictors of thyroid dysfunction in obese patients. Conclusion:Thyroid hypofunction is common in obese patients with NAFLD, which has implications for screening for hypothyroidism in patients with NAFLD and for the administration of appropriate therapy for hypothyroidism.
Keywords: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Hypothyroidism, Obesity.