Dyslipidemia in subclinical hypothyroidism in an Indian population

Objectives: In view of inconsistent reports on the prevalence of dyslipidemia in Subclinical Hypothyroidism (SCH), we studied lipid abnormalities in Indian subjects with SCH. Design and Methods: A cross sectional study of 5343 subjects divided in two groups, Group-1 (age ≤ 18 years) and Group-2 (age > 18 years) was undertaken. They were further subdivided on the basis of their thyroid functional status: Normal (Control); SCH with TSH ≤ 10.0 mIU/L (SCH-1); and SCH with TSH > 10 mIU/L (SCH-2). Results: Prevalence of SCH was 14.7%. The only lipid abnormality in children and adolescents was low HDL in subjects with TSH > 10 mIU/L compared with controls. Serum total cholesterol (TC) and LDL cholesterol (LDL) were significantly higher in adults with TSH > 10 mIU/L compared to controls. There were no significant changes in lipid parameters in subjects with SCH having TSH ≤ 10.0 mIU/L, compared to controls. Serum TSH was positively and FT3 and FT4 were negatively correlated with TC and LDL. Conclusions: Atherogenic lipid abnormalities were observed in adult subjects with SCH-2 (TSH > 10.0 mIU/L), and not in subjects with SCH-1 who had TSH ≤ 10.0 mIU/L in Indian population