Association between Visfatin Hormone and Thyroid Dysfunction among Patients with Hyperthyroidism and Hypothyroidism

Adipokines are proteins secreted from adipose tissue that are involved in metabolism control. Visfatin is one of the adipokines with different biological roles. Serum levels of Visfatin were found to be associated with BMI، thyroid dysfunctions، and metabolic syndrome in several studies. The aim of this study was to assess Visfatin’s association with thyroid dysfunction. This case-control study was performed on patients who referred to the clinic of the Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences of Shahid-Beheshti University in year 2009. 48 patients with hypothyroidism، 34 patients with hyperthyroidism and 82 normal individuals as control group were selected by easy given sampling method and then were studied. BMI and fasting Visfatin، TSH and T4 serum levels were measured by enzyme immunoassay methods. Data were analyzed using independent t-test، Pearson correlation coefficient and one-way ANOVA by SPSS 18 software. Visfatin serum levels in both groups of patients with hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism (9. 38±1. 77 ng/ml and 6. 70±1. 35 ng/ml، respectively) were significantly higher than the control group (2. 51±0. 12 ng/ml). There was no significant correlation between serum levels of TSH، T4 and BMI and Visfatin serum level in case and control groups. This study shows that the Visfatin level is independent of BMI changes in patients who have thyroid dysfunction. The findings of this study suggest that changes in Visfatin levels may be considered as a criterion for diagnosis of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism