Abstract: Objective To investigate the correlation between abdominal obesity and autoimmune thyroid disease in the view point of helper T cells and cytokines. Methods Clinical and laboratory data were collected from 108 patients with Hashimoto′s thyroiditis (HT) plus abdominal obesity and 122 patients of Hashimoto′s thyroiditis without abdominal obesity who visited the People′s Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and also from the control population. Abdominal circumference was measured, and patients in the HT patients were grouped according to whether they were abdominally obese or not. The thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) and thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) were detected, and the ratio of helper T cells and related cytokines were detected by flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results The abdominal circumference of the TgAb-positive group was higher than that of the TgAb-negative group (P＜0.05). Correlation analysis suggested that abdominal circumference was significantly and positively correlated with TgAb and IL-4 but negatively correlated with Th1. After correcting for gender and age, and abdominal obesity and IL-4 were risk factors for TgAb antibody positivity OR=3.080(95% CI:1.022-9.284) and OR=1.296(95% CI:1.022-9.284), both with P＜0.05. Conclusions Abdominal obesity may be an influential factor in TgAb antibody positivity, with larger abdominal circumference having higher TgAb antibody titers, lower Th1 levels, and higher IL-4 levels. Visceral adiposity may exacerbate autoimmune damage of thyroid tissue by disruption of helper T cell pathway.

Key words: Hashimoto′s thyroiditis, thyroglobulin antibody, abdominal obesity, waist circumference, IL-4