Prevalence of hypothyroidism in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in patients attending a tertiary hospital in western India

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of hypothyroidism in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The patients visiting Gastroenterology outpatient clinic between September 2011 and September 2013 at our tertiary care center were investigated for NAFLD. Three hundred controls were selected on the basis of negative ultrasound examination. All patients above 18 years were included. All patients with alcohol intake greater than 20 g/day, HBsAg or anti-HCV positivity, and history of liver disease were excluded. Full thyroid profile was carried out in all patients and they were classified as follows: subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH >5.5 IU/mL but <10 IU/mL) and overt hypothyroidism (TSH >10 IU/mL). Eight hundred (500 NAFLD and 300 controls) patients were studied. The mean age of NAFLD patients was 44.3 years and of controls was 41.6 years, respectively. The female-to-male ratio of NAFLD patients was 1.8:1 and of controls was1.94:1, respectively (p>0.05). Hypothyroidism was significantly more common in NAFLD patients compared to controls. Eighty-four patients were detected to have hypothyroidism in NAFLD group compared to only four patients in control group (p<0.001). Mean ALT (55 vs. 21 IU), AST (44 vs. 18 IU), and BMI (29.17 vs. 25.14 kg/m2) were significantly higher in NAFLD hypothyroid group compared to nonhypothyroid NAFLD. Multivariate regression analysis showed that NAFLD was statistically significantly associated with hypothyroidism [odds ratio (OR) 14.94, 95 % confidence interval (CI), 3.5 to 62.6]. Steatohepatitis was more common in hypothyroid as compared to nonhypothyroid group [OR 3.9, 1.2 to 11.1 (95 % CI)]. The prevalence of hypothyroidism in NAFLD was 16.8 %. Hypothyroidism was closely associated with NAFLD independently of known metabolic risk factors, confirming a significant clinical relationship between these two diseases.