Frequency of autoimmune thyroiditis in children with Celiac disease and effect of gluten free diet

  • Javaria Rasheed Nishtar Medical University Multan
  • Rushan Hassan, Dr. Nishtar Medical University Multan
  • Muhammad Khalid, Dr. Nishtar Medical University Multan http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3179-167X
  • Fauzia Zafar Nishtar Medical University Multan
Keywords: Autoimmune thyroiditis, Celiac disease, Gluten-Free Diet

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of autoimmune thyroiditis in children with Celiac disease and the effect of gluten free diet on autoimmune thyroiditis.

Methods: We enrolled 100 patients, age 1-12 years of either gender diagnosed as Celiac disease (CD) in this prospective observational study in the Department of Pediatric Medicine, from 1st January 2018 to 30th June 2019. Diagnosis of autoimmune thyroiditis was made if anti–thyroperoxidase >35 iu/ml or anti–thyroglobulin >20 iu/ml at diagnosis of CD and then at one year on gluten free diet (GFD) in all cases. Children with repeat anti-tTG levels > 10 times upper limit normal at 6-months after enrollment were labelled as non-compliant to GFD. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.

Results: Mean age of the participants was 5.94±3.16 years and 53% were females. Fourteen cases of autoimmune thyroiditis were detected at enrollment and six (7%, n/N = 6/86) were later diagnosed on follow-up who were initially negative. Seven hypothyroid cases among the autoimmune thyroiditis were treated with thyroxine and became euthyroid on follow-up testing. Compliance to GFD was 52%. Autoimmune thyroiditis improved on gluten free diet in four cases (28.6%). Of the six euthyroid cases at diagnosis three cases became hypothyroid and all were non-compliant.

Conclusion: Frequency of autoimmune thyroiditis was 20% over a follow-up period of one year. Good compliance with the GFD has some effect on improving autoimmune thyroiditis and maintaining euthyroid status of CD patients.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.6.2226

How to cite this:
Rasheed J, Hassan R, Khalid M, Zafar F. Frequency of autoimmune thyroiditis in children with Celiac disease and effect of gluten free diet . Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(6):1280-1284. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.6.2226

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Author Biographies

Rushan Hassan, Dr., Nishtar Medical University Multan

Post-graduate Trainee, Pediatric Medicine

Muhammad Khalid, Dr., Nishtar Medical University Multan

Senior Registrar, Pediatric Medicine

Fauzia Zafar, Nishtar Medical University Multan

Professor & Head of Department, Pediatric Medicine

Published
2020-08-19
How to Cite
Rasheed, J., Hassan, R., Khalid, M., & Zafar, F. (2020). Frequency of autoimmune thyroiditis in children with Celiac disease and effect of gluten free diet. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 36(6). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.6.2226