Association between helicobacter pylori infection and autoimmune hashimoto's thyroiditis

Background: Autoimmune thyroid diseases are multifactorial conditions that result from genetic predisposition in combination with environmental risk factors. Some bacteria and viruses are suspected of being able to mimic the antigenic profile on the thyroid membrane and play an important role in the onset of auto immune diseases

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Object: The aim of this study was directed to investigate the association between helicobacter pylori infection and Hashimoto's thyroiditis

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Methodology: The present study included 100 subjects divided into two groups: Patient group: this group included 70 patients, chosen from attending outpatient medical clinic patients and were newly diagnosed as having Hashimoto's thyroiditis guided by clinical diagnosis and detection of TSH, free T3, free T4, thyroperoxidase antibodies [TPOAbs] and Thyroglobulin antibodies [TgAbs] in serum samples. Control group: This group included 30 age- and sex-matched apparently healthy individuals with normal thyroid profile [TSH, freeT3 and freeT4]

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Results: In the present work, there was abnormal elevation of TSH in 60 patients [85.7%], compared to just one subject [3.3%] of control group with statistically significant difference between groups. In the present work, there was significant and proportional [positive] correlation between HPIgG and each of TPO and ATG values

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Conclusions:Our results showed significant association between Hashimoto's thyroiditis and HP infection. This association might be related to the disease severity, and might reflect the need of adding anti-HP medications as additional choice in management of Hashimoto's thyroiditis