Hypothyroidism is linked to fatty liver: PGI docs

Lucknow: Clinical studies have shown a strong association between hypothyroidism (low thyroid status) and the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease ( NAFLD ) in patients across the world and may contribute to their higher all-cause mortality as well as cardiovascular mortality, experts at department of endocrinology at SGPGI said.

“ Thyroid hormones are important in regulating fat metabolism in our liver. Experiments performed in pre-clinical studies have shown that thyroid hormones can prevent the development of fatty liver disease in mice fed diet rich in sugar and fat. Similarly, clinical trials performed in humans have also shown beneficial effects of low dose thyroid hormones in patients with NAFLD and diabetes,” explained Dr Rohit Sinha, associate professor.

To note, NAFLD is a metabolic liver disease that affects more than 30% of Indians and this trend is increasing at an alarming rate owing to modern lifestyle changes. NAFLD is a strong risk factor for Type II diabetes and in some patients this disease progresses to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer.

He added that the side effects associated with administration of pharmacological dose of natural thyroid hormones may limit its use in NAFLD patients thereby requiring the development of liver specific synthetic thyroid hormone analogs.

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