Abstract
Thyroid dysfunction is very often accompanied by cognitive and affective disorders. The frequency of these disorders in patients with compensated Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is unknown. The aim of the present study was to evaluate brain dysfunction in euthyroid HT patients by means of event-related potentials (ERP) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and to correlate it with cognitive function. 68 patients with HT (59 female, 9 male) and 45 healthy controls were included in the study. All the patients underwent ERP including an analysis of N200 and P300 response parameters. MRS voxels were located in the posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG) and the left parietal white matter (PWM). The NAA/Cr, mI/Cr, and Cho/Cr ratios were analysed. The ERP parameters, MRS metabolite ratios and hormonal concentrations (TSH, fT3, fT4) as well as TGAb and TPOAb titer were also correlated. There was a significant prolongation of the latencies of N200 and P300 potentials and a significant decrease of P300 amplitude in HT patients than in the control group. There was a significant positive correlation between the mI/Cr ratio in the PCG area and P300 latencies. NAA/Cr ratio in the PCG region showed significant negative correlations with all N200 latencies. The results may suggest brain dysfunction in neurologically asymptomatic HT patients. ERPs undergo significant changes in patients with HT and may, in combination with MRS, constitute an important element in the recognition and monitoring of cognitive functions in this group of patients.
Highlights
Thyroid dysfunction is very often accompanied by cognitive and affective disorders
We found significant correlations of event-related potentials (ERP) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) measurements in the posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG) region
The NAA/Cr ratio showed significant negative correlations with all N200 latencies, while the mI/Cr ratio revealed a significant positive correlation with P300 latencies, which means that decreased values of the N200 and P300 latencies are associated with metabolic alterations in the PCG cortex
Summary
Thyroid dysfunction is very often accompanied by cognitive and affective disorders. The frequency of these disorders in patients with compensated Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is unknown. The aim of the present study was to evaluate brain dysfunction in euthyroid HT patients by means of eventrelated potentials (ERP) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and to correlate it with cognitive function. There are few reports on cognitive disorders in patients with HT with compensated thyroid function, in whom difficulties with memory, focusing attention, or slowing down of thinking are often observed[7,8]. One of the non-invasive and repeatable methods for assessing bioelectrical activity of non-specific areas of the brain associated with information processing processes is the study of cognitive event-related potentials (ERP). They allow us to objectify the clinical assessment of intellectual and cognitive functions[9,10]. It should be stressed that in the available world literature there are no articles concerning the analysis of metabolic alterations within NAWM and NAGM in patients with HT apart from a single study by Bladowska et al
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