I find this an interesting concept - whether or not it proves practical. The very idea of measuring a factor which changes directly due to the influence of thyroid hormone seems entirely logical.
(Though measuring TSH which could be argued to be controlled by thyroid hormone fails because it is part of the control mechanism itself.)
Med Hypotheses. 2019 Oct;131:109299. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2019.109299. Epub 2019 Jul 2.
Serum nitric oxide levels correlate with quality of life questionnaires scores of hypothyroid females.
Gluvic ZM1, Sudar-Milovanovic EM2, Samardzic VS1, Obradovic MM3, Jevremovic DP4, Radenkovic SP5, Isenovic ER6.
Author information
1 Clinic for Internal Medicine, Zemun Clinical Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
2 Institute of Nuclear Sciences Vinca, University of Belgrade, Laboratory of Radiobiology and Molecular Genetics, Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: emma_crash@yahoo.com.
3 Institute of Nuclear Sciences Vinca, University of Belgrade, Laboratory of Radiobiology and Molecular Genetics, Belgrade, Serbia.
4 Faculty of Stomatology in Pancevo, University Business Academy in Novi Sad, Pancevo, Serbia.
5 Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Disorders, School of Medicine, University of Nis, Serbia.
6 Institute of Nuclear Sciences Vinca, University of Belgrade, Laboratory of Radiobiology and Molecular Genetics, Belgrade, Serbia; Faculty of Stomatology in Pancevo, University Business Academy in Novi Sad, Pancevo, Serbia.
Abstract
Primary hypothyroidism can affect lipid metabolism, cardiovascular (CV) function, and overall patients' quality of life (QoL). Decrease in serum nitric oxide (NO) levels could promote the atherosclerosis acceleration in hypothyroid patients. Our hypothesis is that serum NO level is altered in hypothyroidism; more specifically, we hypothesize that the early vascular changes that can be observed in hypothyroidism could be due to these alterations and that serum NO levels are associated with lipid levels in female patients diagnosed with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) or clinical hypothyroidism (CH). Furthermore, since serum NO level is an early marker of atherosclerosis and related CV disorders, which are commonly present and follow hypothyreosis and greatly contribute to overall QoL, we further hypothesized that NO level would correlate with Thyroid Symptom Questionnaire (TSQ) and General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ12) scores in hypothyroid patients. A collaterally of our hypothesis was that levothyroxine (LT4) treatment would affect serum NO levels as well as TSQ and GHQ12 scores. Therefore, we have analyzed lipid profile, the level of NO and QoL scores in female patients diagnosed with SCH and CH in order to determine the correlation between NO and generic and thyroid disease symptoms in treatment naïve SCH and CH patients and after LT4 treatment and laboratory euthyroidism achievement. As a consequence of our hypothesis is that measurement of serum NO level in SCH and CH patients may be an innovative way to improve LT4 treatment efficacy. This assumption could have a practical significance for future investigations regarding the management of hypothyroidism treatment protocols in current guidelines.
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:
Hypothyroidism; Levothyroxine; Nitric oxide; Quality of life
PMID: 31443778
DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2019.109299
