The evaluation of the relationship between hypothyroidism to weight gain

The study has been designed to investigate the relationship between hypothyroidism and weight gain in humans, and the role of oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of these two medical conditions through evaluating reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the serum. One hundred and fifty subjects were enrolled in this study and they were divided into three groups; 50 healthy overweight, 50 overweight with hypothyroidism, and 50 healthy people as control of the study. The differences of age were non-significant among the three groups. Despite that the body mass index (BMI) of healthy overweight and overweight with hypothyroidism groups were non-significant, the waist circumference and waist to hip ratio were significantly higher in overweight with hypothyroidism compared to healthy overweight. This indicates that central obesity has strong impact on the thyroid gland. The level of ROS was significantly higher in the serum of healthy overweight and overweight with hypothyroidism groups compared to control. Moreover, the level of serum ROS was significantly elevated in overweight with hypothyroidism compared to healthy overweight. In conclusion, oxidative stress plays important role in the pathophysiology of hypothyroidism and overweight through overproduction of ROS.