This study highlights a complex interrelationship between cardiovascular risk factors in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis, and patients with AIT and TSH >2.5 mU/L may have a more atherogenic lipid profile.
AIT patients with TSH >2.5 mU/L had higher body mass index and higher LDL-cholesterol than those with TSH ≤2.5 mU/L.
AIT patients with TSH >2.5 mU/L had lower lipoprotein(a) levels than those with TSH ≤2.5 mU/L.
Triglycerides, ApoA1, ApoB, adiponectin and resistin did not differ between the two TSH groups.
In the whole cohort, adiponectin correlated positively with HDL-cholesterol and lipoprotein(a), while resistin correlated positively with hs-CRP and triglycerides.
In the whole cohort, hs-CRP correlated positively with anti-thyroglobulin antibody titers, and homocysteine correlated negatively with FT3.
In the TSH >2.5 mU/L subgroup, FT4 correlated positively with ApoA1 and HDL-cholesterol and negatively with lipoprotein(a), and resistin correlated positively with TSH.
In the TSH ≤2.5 mU/L subgroup, adiponectin levels correlated negatively with TSH.
This study looked at 62 people with autoimmune thyroiditis (such as Hashimoto's) whose thyroid hormone levels were normal and who had no other illnesses. The researchers split them by their TSH level (a pituitary hormone that signals the thyroid), using a cutoff of 2.5 mU/L, and compared body weight, blood fats, inflammation markers, thyroid antibodies, and two fat-derived hormones, adiponectin and resistin. People with higher TSH had a higher body mass index and higher LDL ("bad") cholesterol, but lower lipoprotein(a). Adiponectin and resistin levels did not differ between the groups. Across all participants, resistin tracked with inflammation (hs-CRP) and triglycerides, adiponectin tracked with HDL ("good") cholesterol, and an inflammation marker rose with higher thyroglobulin antibody levels. Some links to TSH and thyroid hormones appeared only in one TSH subgroup. This research suggests that even when thyroid hormones are in the normal range, people with autoimmune thyroiditis and somewhat higher TSH may have a more heart-unfriendly cholesterol profile. Because the study is cross-sectional and small, it shows associations only and cannot show that TSH levels cause these differences or lead to heart disease.
Neves C, Neves J, Sokhatska O, Delgado L. (2026). Cardiovascular risk factors in autoimmune thyroiditis: role of adiponectin, resistin, inflammation and auto-immunity - a cross-sectional study.. Frontiers in endocrinology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2026.1865915