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Thyroid hormones in euthyroid range predict body mass composition in women

Issue: June 2011

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Society for Endocrinology BES 2011

Researchers for a new study report that thyroid hormone levels appear to predict whole body lean mass, fat mass and central adiposity in women.

“This suggests that thyroid hormones play an important role in the pathogenesis of obesity,” Preethi Rao, MD, of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, U.K., and colleagues wrote in the study abstract. The data were presented during the Young Endocrinologists’ Prize Session at the meeting.

The researchers conducted a study to assess body composition in euthyroid women because they said “the relation of body weight distribution to thyroid function in euthyroid individuals is unclear.”

Their study included more than 1,000 euthyroid women (mean age, 61 years) who were included in the Osteoporosis and Ultrasound Study (OPUS). OPUS is a population-based cohort study of participants from five European cities. All of the women had their thyroid function measured in 2001 to 2002, and whole body adiposity and lean mass were measured using DXA in 2007 to 2008.

According to the researchers’ measurements, the mean thyroid-stimulating hormone level was 0.86 mIU/L; the mean free thyroxine level was 12.8 pmol/L; and the mean free triiodothyronine level was 3.7 pmol/L. The researchers said their study showed a negative correlation between FT₄ levels and whole body and truncal lean mass. Whole body and truncal fat mass were positively correlated with FT₃ levels, but not with TSH levels. Further, the analysis yielded a positive corelation between FT₃ and TSH levels.

Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that FT₃ and TSH independently predicted whole body and truncal lean mass. In contrast, FT₃ alone predicted whole body and truncal fat mass. The researchers also found a significant correlation between truncal fat levels and the FT₃ to FT₄ ratio.

For more information:

• Rao P. OC1.1. Presented at: Society for Endocrinology BES 2011; April 11-14, 2011; Birmingham, U.K.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.