Low BMD, fracture risk unrelated to genetic risk for hyperthyroidism
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Increased genetic risk for Graves’ disease, autoimmune thyroiditis or hyperthyroidism is not associated with low bone mineral density or fracture risk, according to an analysis of UK Biobank data.
“Hyperthyroid states such as Graves’ disease and thyroiditis are unlikely to confer a genetic predisposition to low BMD and increased risk of fractures,” Harshal Deshmukh, MBBS, MRCP, MPH, PhD, a NIHR Clinical Lecturer in endocrinology at the University of Hull, U.K., told Healio.
Deshmukh and colleagues conducted Mendelian randomization analyses on 473,818 participants (54% women; median age, 58 years) from data compiled in the UK Biobank from 2006 to 2010. Individuals in the study underwent quantitative ultrasound of the left and right heel to assess BMD. Fracture history was self-reported over the past 5 years.
When computing a beta-weighted genetic risk score, researchers used 19 single nucleotide polymorphisms for Graves’ disease, nine for hyperthyroidism and 11 for autoimmune thyroiditis. Three difference sensitivity analyses were done to explore possible pleiotropic effects. To account for multiple testing, a P value of .004 or less was considered significant.
Analysis using the beta-weighted genetic risk score adjusted for age, sex and BMI showed no association between genetic risk for Graves’ disease, autoimmune thyroiditis or hyperthyroidism, and BMD. There was also no association between genetic risk for all three conditions and self-reported fractures.
Researchers conducted a sensitivity analysis on 409,633 white individuals in the study cohort with genome-wide association study data. No association was found between genetic risk for Graves’ disease, autoimmune thyroiditis or hyperthyroidism and BMD or self-reported fractures.
The findings did not change when researchers used a Mendelian randomization-Egger regression method.
“Our study does not support routine screening and assessment of fracture risk in patients who have had definitive treatment for Graves’ disease and hyperthyroid states,” Deshmukh said.
Deshmukh added that future research must be done in more diverse cohorts to determine whether the findings hold for groups other than white populations.
For more information:
Harshal Deshmukh, MBBS, MRCP, MPH, PhD, can be reached at harshal.deshmukh@hyms.ac.uk; Twitter: @harshaldeshmukh.
Collapse
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts