Evaluation of Liver Function Tests in Patients with Hypothyroidism in a Tertiary Care Hospital
Keywords:
Liver Function Tests, Overt hypothyroidism, Subclinical hypothyroidism, Thyroid Function TestsAbstract
BACKGROUND: Thyroid hormones are essential for normal organ growth and metabolic regulation, including the basal metabolic rate. Hypo functioning of thyroid gland often results in abnormal liver function tests, even without overt liver disease. This study aimed to assess these hepatic alterations by comparing liver function parameters between hypothyroidism and euthyroidism attending a tertiary care hospital.
METHODS: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital from 1st August to 30th November 2025 with consecutive sampling technique. Ethical clearance was taken from institutional review committee (IRC reference No. 25052025/16). 145 participants who were diagnosed as hypothyroidism on the basis of Thyroid function test (TFT) were enrolled in the study who were further grouped as sub-clinical and overt hypothyroidism. Liver function test (LFT) and TFT were assessed through an automated analyzer and Chemiluminescence Immune Assays (CLIA) methods respectively.
RESULTS: Among the hypothyroid subjects, majority of the participants belong to subclinical hypothyroidism 109 (75.2%), whereas 36 (24.8%) were grouped as overt hypothyroidism. Serum bilirubin was significantly higher in overt hypothyroidism. Serum aminotransferase (AST and ALT) were higher but total protein was lower in hypothyroidism. In this study 19(13.1%) and 13(9%) of the hypothyroidism participants had elevated aminotransferase activity.
CONCLUSION: This study revealed a significant rise in serum ALT and AST in hypothyroid subjects compared to that in controls. Furthermore, serum albumin and Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) were positively significantly correlated with Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- The author transfers copyright to the Nepalese Association for Clinical Chemistry.
- The journal publishes the work under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal and under the same share-alike license used here.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
