ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the prevalence of fibromyalgia [FM] among patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis [HT] and association of thyroid antibodies with FM severity among affected individuals
Design: Cross-sectional
Setting: Two endocrinology outpatient clinics
Subjects: Euthyroid patients with HT were recruited
Intervention: Assessment for detection of fibromyalgia
Main outcome measure[s]: Prevalence of fibromyalgia and association with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Diagnosis of FM was made using the 2010 American College of Rheumatology criteria. Serum concentrations of thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH] and anti-thyroid peroxidase [anti-TPO] antibodies were determined
Results: Average age of the patients was 38.5 years and 93.1% were female. Among the 102 patients, diagnosis of FM was made in five patients [prevalence rate, 95% CI: 4.9%, 0.7 - 9.1]. Age, sex, level of education, marital status, menopause status, duration of thyroid disease, TSH, and anti-TPO concentrations were comparable between patients with and without FM [p >0.05 in all tests]. Among patients with FM, the indices of FM severity [widespread pain index, and symptom severity] were not significantly correlated with wither TSH or anti-TPO concentrations
Conclusion: Despite previous reports suggesting an increased risk of FM in HT, among Iranian patients with HT, the prevalence of FM seems to be comparable with the prevalence reported in the female general population. A possible link between HT and FM needs further investigation in large population-based studies
ABSTRACT
Hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection has been associated with a plethora of immune and autoimmune perturbations. A variety of conditions ranging from endocrinopathies to different skin diseases has been described in HCV infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and clinical significance of HCV infection in patients with graves' disease [GD]. A total of 55 patients with GD [30 women, 25 men, mean age: 35.24 +/- 12.27 years] and 50 control subjects [28 women, 22 men, mean age: 33.34 +/- 11.99 years] were examined. Third generation ELISA test was used for detection of antibodies to HCV in human sera, and anti-HCV seropositivity was confirmed by recombinant immunoblot assay [RIBA]. All normal controls were anti-HCV negative whereas anti-HCV antibody was present in 1 patient with GD and confirmed by Western blotting. These results indicate that there was no significant difference of anti-HCV antibodies between patients and controls. In this study no relationship was found between GD and HCV infection, which imply that hepatitis C virus has not a direct causal role in the pathogenesis of GD, however, this does not rule out a hit and run virus induced disease