Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Associated With Increased Prevalence of Autoimmune Hypothyroiditis
By Emma Patten-Hitt
Special to DG News
DENVER, CO -- June 24, 2001 -- Women with polycystic ovarian syndrome may have a four times greater prevalence of autoimmune hypothyroiditis than do women without the disorder, according to a new study.
Dr. Roland Gaertner, of Munich University, in Germany, reported the findings today at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society (ENDO) in Denver, Colorado.
According to the researchers, women have a five- to 10-fold higher incidence of organ specific autoimmune diseases including autoimmune thyroiditis compared to men, suggesting that female hormones may be involved in causing the disease.
Over a period of 12 months, the researchers tested 58 women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), average age 25, for thyroid peroxidase autoantibody (TPOAb) and thyroglobulin autoantibody (TgAb) concentrations with commercial test kits. In addition, they measured thyrotropin, free thyroxine, free triiodothyronine and examined the thyroid with ultrasound.
They then compared the incidence of positive TPOAb and TgAb concentrations (greater than100 U/ml) between the PCOS patients and 106 age-matched controls.
In the control patients, 10 percent had positive TPOAb and/or TgAb. In contrast, from the 58 patients with PCOS, 25 (43.1 percent) had elevated TPOAb and 20 of them showed hypoechogeneity in thyroid ultrasound, confirming the presence of autoimmune hypothyroiditis.
"This prospective study clearly demonstrates a fourfold higher prevalence of thyroid specific antibodies in patients with documented PCOS compared to controls, and 17 percent of them had clinical autoimmune thyroiditis," the researchers note.
"I think physicians would be surprised to hear that patients with PCOS are at such high risk of autoimmune thyroiditis," Dr. Gaertner told Doctor’s Guide.
"We are not sure why the risk is increased," Dr. Gaertner said. "One hypothesis is that the female hormones have a significant influence on the immune system, and these women have low levels of progesterone, which causes an increase of the stimulatory effects of estrogen on the immune system," he explained
"Women with PCOS may want to discuss the possibility of autoimmune thyroiditis with their doctors," he said.
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PCOS Associated With Increased Prevalence of Autoimmune Hypothyroiditis 
