Thyroid hormone deficiency and coronary artery disease

Abstract

Saira Shan, B.Sc, MBBS¹, Shumaila Aslam, MBBS²,
Nazish Saleem, BS (Hons), M.Phil, BS. Ed³,
Nayab Batool Rizvi, M.Sc, PhD⁴, Shan Elahi, M.Sc, PhD⁵

¹House Officer; ²Woman Medical Officer
Government Lady Aitchison Hospital, Lahore, (Pakistan)
³Lecturer; ⁴Assistant Professor
Institute of Chemistry, New Campus, University of the Punjab, Lahore, (Pakistan)
⁵Principal Scientist, Centre for Nuclear Medicine (CENUM), Mayo Hospital, Lahore, (Pakistan)

Correspondence: Dr. Shan Elahi, Centre for Nuclear Medicine (CENUM), PO Box No.53, Mayo Hospital, Lahore, (Pakistan); Phone: 092-42-9214436-38 E-mail: shan.elahi@gmail.com

SUMMARY

The heart is sensitive to thyroid hormone action and thyroid dysfunctions. Thyroid hormone deficiency (hypothyroidism) either overt or subclinical has adverse cardiovascular consequences. They results from direct influences of hypothyroidism on heart function as well as due to secondary effects like atherogenic lipid profile, diastolic hypertension and impaired endothelial function leading to atherosclerosis. This review summarizes the basic and clinical studies on the role of hypothyroidism in development of atherosclerosis and traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease.