Abstract
Most of the studies present in the literature show a high prevalence, and incidence, of new cases of hypothyroidism and autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, overall in female gender. A limited number of cases of Graves’ disease have been also reported in SLE patients, in agreement with the higher prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity. It has been also demonstrated that a Th1 predominance is associated with AT in SLE patients. Furthermore, a higher prevalence of papillary thyroid cancer has been recently reported in SLE, in particular in the presence of thyroid autoimmunity. However, studies in larger number of SLE patients are needed to confirm findings about thyroid cancer. On the whole, data from literature strongly suggest that female SLE patients, with a high risk (a normal but at the higher limit thyroid-stimulating hormone value, positive antithyroid peroxidase antibodies, a hypoechoic pattern, and small thyroid), should undergo periodic thyroid function follow-up, and appropriate treatments when needed. A careful thyroid monitoring would be opportune during the follow-up of these patients.
Highlights
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease affecting mostly joints, skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and nervous system, in which the immune system attacks tissues and cells leading to inflammation and damage [1]
A limited number of Graves’ disease (GD) cases have been reported in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), in agreement with the higher prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity
It has been demonstrated that Th1 predominance is associated with autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) in SLE patients
Summary
Silvia Martina Ferrari 1*, Giusy Elia, Camilla Virili, Marco Centanni 2, Alessandro Antonelli 1 and Poupak Fallahi 1. Most of the studies present in the literature show a high prevalence, and incidence, of new cases of hypothyroidism and autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, overall in female gender. A limited number of cases of Graves’ disease have been reported in SLE patients, in agreement with the higher prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity. A higher prevalence of papillary thyroid cancer has been recently reported in SLE, in particular in the presence of thyroid autoimmunity. Studies in larger number of SLE patients are needed to confirm findings about thyroid cancer. Data from literature strongly suggest that female SLE patients, with a high risk (a normal but at the higher limit thyroid-stimulating hormone value, positive antithyroid peroxidase antibodies, a hypoechoic pattern, and small thyroid), should undergo periodic thyroid function follow-up, and appropriate treatments when needed.
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