Gut dysbiosis is associated with primary hypothyroidism with interaction on gut-thyroid axis

[Bolt_Upright]

A lot of us in this group are also hypothyroid. Gut dysbiosis is associated with PD AND with hypothyroidism. Gut dysbiosis is associated with primary hypothyroidism with interaction on gut-thyroid axis pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/325...

"Results There were significant differences in α and β diversities of gut microbiota between primary hypothyroidism patients and healthy individuals. The random forest analysis indicated that four intestinal bacteria (Veillonella, Paraprevotella, Neisseria, and Rheinheimera) could distinguish untreated primary hypothyroidism patients from healthy individuals with the highest accuracy; this was confirmed by receiver operator characteristic curve analysis. The short chain fatty acid producing ability of the primary hypothyroidism patients' gut was significantly decreased, which resulted in the increased serum lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels."

Of particular note: "The short chain fatty acid producing ability of the primary hypothyroidism patients' gut was significantly decreased".

Fix the gut?

[goldengrove]

I wonder whether correcting the hypothyroidism with thyroid hormone corrects the dysbiosis or whether there is an immune problem in the gut paralleling the auto-immune problem in the thyroid that could be responsible for the dysbiosis. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's years ago - raised TSH, markedly raised TPO antibody, my thyroid took up zero radioactive label on the nuclear medicine scan and there was a lymphocyte infiltration in my throid biopsy - and was on a small dose of thyroid hormone replacement for many years. After I read Grain Brain by David Perlmutter I took myself off all gluten. Subsequently I lost about 10kg excess weight and my thyroid function normalised and I went off thyroid hormone medication. What happened in my gut I don't know.

[Bolt_Upright in reply to goldengrove]

Wow! How many years were you with Hashimoto's before you went gluten free?

I have had HT for 25 years. I am now gluten free. I would like to dream I can get off the levoxyl.

To your question: I think whatever causes the HT causes the dysbiosis. I don't think the levoxyl fixes the dysbiosis. I think the gluten free helps the dysbiosis and that helps the HT (and hopefully the PD).

[goldengrove in reply to Bolt_Upright]

I took thyroxine daily for about 5 years. Of course I can't be sure that going gluten-free was the reason my thyroid function normalised - it may have been a transient or intermittent issue in my case though my endocrinologist expected me to be on my small dose of thyroxine forever. This is just an anecdote. I have the LRRK2 gene so I have a very high probability of developing PD - we will see if that happens before I happen to die.