AUTHOR=He Weiwei , An Xiaofei , Li Ling , Shao Xiaoqing , Li Qian , Yao Qiuming , Zhang Jin-an 

TITLE=Relationship between Hypothyroidism and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Endocrinology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2017.00335

DOI=10.3389/fendo.2017.00335

ISSN=1664-2392

ABSTRACT=<sec id="ST1"><title>Background</title><p>Previous studies propose that hypothyroidism might play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but findings from published studies on the relationship between hypothyroidism and NAFLD are still controversial. Our study aimed to make a comprehensive evaluation of the relationship between hypothyroidism and NAFLD through a meta-analysis.</p></sec><sec id="ST2"><title>Methods</title><p>PubMed, China Dissertation Database, and EMBASE databases were searched to find observational studies assessing the relationship between hypothyroidism and NAFLD. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to evaluate the strength of the relationship between hypothyroidism and NAFLD through meta-analysis.</p></sec><sec id="ST3"><title>Results</title><p>Thirteen articles were ultimately included in our meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of the 13 studies found a high correlation between hypothyroidism and NAFLD (OR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.24–1.87, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001). Meta-analysis of 9 studies providing adjusted ORs found that hypothyroidism was independently correlated with NAFLD (OR = 1.72, 95% CI 1.32–2.23, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001). Subgroup analysis found that both overt hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism were significantly correlated with NAFLD, and the pooled ORs were 1.70 (95% CI 1.23–2.36, <italic>P</italic> = 0.002) and 1.40 (95% CI 1.10–1.77, <italic>P</italic> = 0.006), respectively. Besides, meta-analysis of studies providing adjusted ORs also found that both overt hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism were independently correlated with NAFLD, and the pooled ORs were 1.81 (95% CI 1.30–2.52, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001) and 1.63 (95% CI 1.19–2.24, <italic>P</italic> = 0.002), respectively.</p></sec><sec id="ST4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>The meta-analysis provides strong epidemiological evidence for the relationship between hypothyroidism and NAFLD. Both individuals with subclinical and overt hypothyroidism are at higher risk for NAFLD than euthyroid subjects.</p></sec>