Relationship of inflammatory markers with epicardial adipose tissue thickness in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism

The increased risk of cardiovasculer diseases and atherosclerosis has been showed in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH). However, the mechanism of increased risk remains unclear.It is not known that proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-?, MCP-1, hCRP) which widely accepted in atherosclerosis whether play a part in in the suspectibility to atherosclerosis in patients with SCH. It has been shown that there is a strong relationship between atherosclerosis and the epicardial adipose tissue thickness (EATT). There is no study about relation between SCH and EATT in litherature. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relation between SCH with EATT and proinflamatory cytokines.Thirty-two patients with SCH and twenty-seven healty volunteer were included in the study. hCRP, MCP-1, TNF-alfa and IL-6 were analyzed in blood samples and EATT were measured with echocardiography.Epicardial adipose tissue thickness of patients with SCH were significantly higher than control patiens. LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol were not different between patients and the volunteers. HDL-cholesterol levels were significantly higher than control group (p=0,034). MCP-1, TNF-alfa; IL-6 and hCRP levels were not different between the groups. Among all of the cases in the study, positive correlation was found between EATT and TNF-alfa (p=0,023).This is the first study that showed the relationship between EATT and inflammatory markers in SCH. However, the mechanism of increased EATT in patients with SCH is not understood exactly. Because of the difference in the levels of proinflammatory cytokines which played role in atherosclerosis, and their relationship with TSH, there may be different mechanisms which caused the increased EATT in SCH.