Analysis of correlation between thyroid hormone and prevalence of chronic complications in diabetes mellitus

ObjectiveTo identify the correlation between normal thyroid hormones and the prevalence of lower-extremity arterial disease(LEAD) and diabetes peripheral neuropathy(DPN) in type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) patients.

MethodsA total of 1 342 T2DM patients were enrolled from January 2014 to October 2020 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University and stratified into T2DM group(348 cases), LEAD group(704 cases) and DPN group(290 cases) depending on their disease's diagnosis.The differences in basic data and biochemical indexes between the three groups were compared.At the same time, the correlation between the incidence of LEAD, DPN and thyroid hormone was analyzed.

ResultsAge, free thyroxine(FT4), total protein(TP), albumin(ALB), apolipoprotein E(apo E) were significantly different among the three groups(P < 0.05 to P < 0.01).Stratified by the quartile of thyroid hormone, it was found that there were statistically significant differences in the prevalence of LEAD and DPN among patients with different FT4 levels(P < 0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that FT4 was an independent factor affecting the occurrence of lead and DPN(P < 0.05 to P < 0.01).

ConclusionsLow level of FT4 is a risk factor for LEAD and DPN in patients with T2DN.