Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) acts as an important regulatory molecule in vascular disease. The presence of diabetes mellitus greatly increases the risk of peripheral artery disease, Also both subclinical and overt hypothyroidism have been clearly linked with dyslipidemia, which is a known risk factor for peripheral arterial disease.

Aim: We aimed to evaluate the relation between serum osteoprotegerin and peripheral artery disease among type 2 diabetic patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH).

Patients and Methods: 60 participants were enrolled in the study, (Group1) 20 type 2 diabetic patients with normal thyroid function, (Group 2) 20 type 2 diabetic patients with subclinical hypothyroidism and (Group 3) 20 healthy subjects, they were subjected to complete history taking, complete clinical examination, routine laboratory investigations, serum OPG level, neck ultra sound and Doppler study for ankle brachial index (ABI).

Results: We found that OPG levels were statistically elevated in type 2 diabetic patients with SCH group over type 2 diabetic patients with euthyroidism (P value 0.040). Additionally, lower ABI in type 2 diabetic patients with SCH than those with euthyroidism proving increase incidence of PAD in group 2 than group 1 than the nondiabetic patients with statistically significant results in between groups.

Conclusions: Our results found that diabetic patients with SCH revealed an independent association between TSH and serum level of OPG. Likewise we found a statistically significant difference between OPG level and ABI among type 2 diabetic patients. That’s why OPG can act as a marker of peripheral artery disease among diabetic patients with SCH.

Keywords: Type 2 DM, sub-clinical hypothyroidism, ankle brachial index, osteoprotegerin.