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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1456545

Relationship between thyroid function and lipid atherogenic profile in pediatric patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19

Provisionally accepted
Valeria Calcaterra Valeria Calcaterra 1,2*Raffaella De Santis Raffaella De Santis 2Davide Braghieri Davide Braghieri 2Zanelli Sara Zanelli Sara 2Gianvincenzo Zuccotti Gianvincenzo Zuccotti 2,3
  • 1 University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
  • 2 Buzzi Children’s Hospital, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
  • 3 Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction Concurrent alterations in the metabolic profile and thyroid dysfunction, including nonthyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS) has been reported in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Considering the influence of thyroid hormones (TH) on lipid metabolism, we explored the relationship between thyroid function and the atherogenic lipid profile in children with MIS-C at admission and during a 12-month follow-up.Patients and Methods we considered children admitted for MIS-C. Total and HDL cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), fasting plasma glucose, fasting plasma insulin as well as free T3 (FT3), free T4 (FT4), and TSH were assessed at diagnosis within 24 hours of admission and during follow-up. TG/HDL ratio, no-HDL/HDL ratio and atherogenic index of plasma was also considered as atherogenic risk markers.Results we monitored 56 children. On admission, pathological levels of FT3, FT4, TSH, TG, TC, HDL, TG/HDL ratio, no-HDL/HDL ratio, and AIP were detected. Correlation analyses revealed associations between FT3, FT4, and lipid markers and TSH with TG. During monitoring, while complete restoration of TH balance was achieved at 12 months, some patients still exhibited an altered lipid profile, without correlation between thyroid function and lipid markers.Conclusions we supported a relationship between thyroid function and an atherogenic lipid profile in children with MIS-C. This may result from interactions between adaptive and innate metabolic responses and genetic predisposition. Elucidating the relationship between TH and metabolic pathways during infections could help identify new biomarkers to prevent acute and fatal outcomes, improving patient prognosis and protecting long-term health.

    Keywords: thyroid, non-thyroidal illness syndrome, Multisystem inflammatory syndrome, children thyroid hormones, Lipid Metabolism, lipid atherogenic profile

    Received: 28 Jun 2024; Accepted: 17 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Calcaterra, De Santis, Braghieri, Sara and Zuccotti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Valeria Calcaterra, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

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