Low vitamin D levels are associated with cognitive impairment in patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis

• Published in: BMC endocrine disorders Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 87 - 6
• Main Authors: Xu, Jun, Zhu, Xiang-yun, Sun, Hui, Xu, Xiao-qin, Xu, Song-ao, Suo, Yuan, Cao, Li-jun, Zhou, Qiang, Yu, Hui-jie, Cao, Wei-zhong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 26.11.2018; BioMed Central Ltd; BMC
• Subjects: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; Alzheimer's disease; Basic and Clinical Endocrinology; Chronic illnesses; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Cognitive disorders; Cognitive impairment; Complications and side effects; Diabetes; Endocrinology; Hashimoto’s thyroiditis; Immunoglobulins; Inflammation; Laboratories; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Montreal cognitive assessment; Multivariate analysis; Oxidative stress; Pathogenesis; Physiological aspects; Psychological aspects; Regression analysis; Research Article; Risk factors; rology; Thyroid diseases; Thyroiditis; Vitamin; Vitamin D; Vitamin deficiency; China; Hashimoto’s thyroiditis; Montreal cognitive assessment; Vitamin; Cognitive impairment
• ISSN: 1472-6823; 1472-6823
• DOI: 10.1186/s12902-018-0314-7

Background Cognitive impairment is commonly observed in patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT). Low levels of vitamin D have been correlated with cognitive impairment in non-HT population. We examined the association of vitamin D levels with cognitive impairment in patients with HT. Methods We recruited 194 patients with HT and 200 healthy volunteers. Levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) were measured using a competitive protein-binding assay. Cognitive funtion was assessed using Montreal Cognitive Assessment score (MoCA). Subjects with a MoCA scores < 26 are considered as having mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression models. Results Fifty-five HT patients (28.4%) were diagnosed as having MCI. Patients with MCI had significantly lower 25(OH)D levels when compared with patients without MCI (33.9 ± 6.2 vs. 44.3 ± 9.6 nmol/L, P  < 0.001). Significant differences in 25(OH)D quartiles of HT patients were observed between the patients with MCI and the patients without MCI ( P  < 0.001). In multivariate analyses, serum 25(OH)D levels (≤ 34.0 and ≥ 47.1 nmol/L) were significantly associated with cognitive impairment in patients with HT (OR 6.279, 95% CI 2.673–14.834, P  < 0.001; OR 0.061, 95% CI 0.008–0.491, P  = 0.009, respectively). Conclusion Our results demonstrate an important association between serum vitamin D levels and cognitive impairment in patients with HT.