Aqeel Kafoury
Objective: Changed thyroid chemicals have been depicted in patients with diabetes particularly those with poor glycemic control. This project's objective was to evaluate; the prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disease in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and the presence of autoantibodies to serum anti-thyroid peroxidase (serum anti-TPO).
Patients and methods: The study included fifty diabetic children who attended El-Shatby University Children's Hospital's diabetes clinic on a regular basis. Twenty healthy children who were identical in age and sex served as controls. Serum anti-TPO autoantibodies, serum TSH levels, a clinical examination, and a measurement of HbA1c were all carried out. Samples with an abnormal serum TSH level were tested for serum T4 and T3.
Results: Serum anti-TPO came back positive in 100% of controls and positive in 12% of cases. 50.0% of cases with positive serum anti-TPO had abnormal serum TSH levels, while 97.7% of cases with negative serum anti- TPO had normal serum TSH levels, which was statistically significant (P = 0.004). 42% of diabetic children had good metabolic control, but only 19% of them had a positive serum anti-TPO. 36% had fair control, but only 5% had a positive serum anti-TPO. 22% had poor control, and 9.1% had a positive serum anti-TPO. These differences were not statistically significant, P = 0.550.
Conclusion: Despite the fact that serum TSH screening is more effective at detecting thyroid abnormalities in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes, positive serum anti-TPO antibodies may be an earlier indicator of thyroid disease. As a result, patients with positive antibodies should have their serum TSH levels checked annually.