The THOR effect : thyroid hormone offsets retinopathy

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Abstract

Objective

Thyroid status has been implicated in macrovascular disease both in patients with and without diabetes, however its effect on microvascular complications has not been explored. We assessed the prevalence and time to development of diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes with and without thyroxine treatment.

Research design and methods

The prevalence of retinopathy was determined, in a retrospective cohort study from a secondary care referral diabetes clinic patients with type 2 diabetes and coexisting treated hypothyroidism (THD; n=147) and duration matched controls without hypothyroidism (DM2; n=383). Using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox Proportional Hazards regression model we estimated the time to development of retinopathy in the two groups.

Results

Prevalence of retinopathy was 27.9% in THD group, as compared to 55.1% in the DM2 group (p<0.001). THD were less than one- third as likely to have concurrent retinopathy than, DM2 patients (OR=0.32; 95% CI=0.21 to 0.48; p<0.001). There was a significant difference in the median time to retinopathy between THD and DM2 patients (21.0yrs vs. 13.0yrs: Log-Rank p<0.001). Risk of developing retinopathy in THD patients was two-fifths of that of DM2 patients (hazard ratio=0.418; p<0.001) in a time-dependent variable analysis. The risk of developing retinopathy was concomitantly lower for patients with longer duration of hypothyroidism and thyroxine treatment prior to diagnosis of diabetes (Hazard ratio=0.957:p= 0.004).

Conclusion

A significant sparing effect on development of retinopathy was noted in type 2 diabetic patients with concomitant hypothyroidism (on thyroxine). The exact mechanism(s) for these observations remain to be elucidated.

Item Type: Journal Article
Alternative Title:
Subjects: R Medicine > RE Ophthalmology
Divisions: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Population, Evidence & Technologies (PET)
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Diabetic retinopathy, Diabetes -- Complications, Retina -- Diseases , Non-insulin-dependent diabetes, Thyroid gland
Journal or Publication Title: Journal of Endocrinology and Thyroid Research
Publisher: Juniper Publishing Group
ISSN: 2573-2188
Official Date: 20 February 2018
Dates:
Date
Event
20 February 2018
Published
3 February 2018
Accepted
Volume: 3
Number: 1
Article Number: 555605
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit: 4 June 2018
Date of first compliant Open Access: 5 June 2018
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant ID
RIOXX Funder Name
Funder ID
UNSPECIFIED
[MRC] Medical Research Council
Related URLs:
URI: https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/102924/

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