Correlation Analysis Of Autoimmune Liver Disease With Thyroid Function And Thyroid Antibodies

ObjectiveTo investigate the correlation between thyroid function,antibodies and liver function,liver pathology,and liver stiffness test(LSM)in three groups of patients with different types of autoimmune liver disease(AILD).MethodsFrom January 2014 to September 2022,185 patients with AILD were admitted to our hospital,including 70 patients in the autoimmune hepatitis(AIH)group,57 patients in the primary biliary cholangitis(PBC)group,and 58 patients in the overlap syndrome(OS,in this study,OS only refers to AIH-PBC OS)group.At the same time,healthy patients in our hospital(excluding the above diseases)were collected as controls,and matched according to gender and age.The patients’ clinical data were collected,including general data,liver function,thyroid function,thyroid antibodies,liver pathology,and LSM.The correlation between thyroid function,antibodies and liver function,LSM and liver pathology among each groups was analyzed.ResultsFT3 and FT4 levels were significantly lower in the AIH and PBC groups,and FT4 levels were significantly lower in the OS group,and TSH levels were significantly higher in the PBC and OS groups,and TSH was significantly higher in the OS group than in the AIH group,with statistically significant differences(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in the incidence of combined thyroid disease among the AIH,PBC and OS groups,and Whether or not combined thyroid disease did not affect the response of AIH,PBC and OS to the three diseases(P>0.05).There was no significant difference in the antibody positivity rate and antibody titer levels in the AIH,PBC and OS groups(P>0.05).The FT3 levels were negatively correlated with ALT,AST,ALP and GGT in the AIH group,respectively(r=-0.321,P=0.036;r=-0.372,P=0.014;r=-0.399,P<0.008;r=-0.492,P=0.008).The liver inflammation degree G and other indicators were positively correlated(r=0.417,P=0.031).TGAb was negatively correlated with TBil,liver fibrosis stage,LSM(r=-0.367,P=0.036;r=-0.521,P=0.008;r=-0.347,P=0.048).FT4 levels in the PBC group were negatively correlated with both the degree of liver inflammation and liver fibrosis stage(r=-0.691,P=0.003;r=-0.513,P=0.037).FT3 levels in the OS group were negatively correlated with ALP and GGT,respectively(r=-0.522,P=0.001;r=0.325,P=0.050).ConclusionCompared with the healthy group,there were different differences in thyroid function in AIH,PBC,and OS groups,suggesting that abnormal thyroid function may have some degree of influence on AIH,PBC,and OS diseases.In the three groups of AIH,PBC and OS,thyroid hormones and thyroid antibodies were correlated with ALT,AST,ALP and GGT to different degrees,suggesting that thyroid hormones and thyroid antibodies may become one of the indicators as an assessment of the severity of the pathology of the three diseases of AIH,PBC and OS.