Serum Zonulin Level in Hashimoto Thyroditis Patients

Abstract

Background: Human zonulin is a protein that regulates the intercellular tight junctions in various tissues and organs of the human body. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is one of the most common endocrine autoimmune disorder, but the role in Hashimoto thyroiditis is unclear.

Aim: This study aimed to assess serum zonulin titre in Hashimoto thyroiditis patients.

Patients and methods: This cross sectional comparative analytic study was conducted on 44 patients who diagnosed as Hashimoto Thyroditis who were selected as healthy volunteer have the same age, sex and BMI.

Results: In the current study, this study included 44 female participants: 44 patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis. Patients had mean age of 34.43±7.99 years, all were female with mean body mass index of 31.1±3.8 (kg/m2). Thirty-four of patients (77.3%) had a goiter and were on medications. Hashimoto patients had median serum Zonulin of 37.1 ng/ml with IQR of 27.5 to 42.3 ng/ml. The There were insignificant correlations between serum Zonulin and age, BMI and thyroid profile.

Conclusion: There is no correlation between zonulin and thyroid hormones or autoantibodies in Hashimoto thyroiditis patients. Further research could be conducted in a larger cohort study is needed to elucidate a possible role of zonulin in the pathogenesis of Hashimoto thyroiditis.