Case Control Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Obstet Gynecol. Aug 10, 2017; 6(3): 16-20
Published online Aug 10, 2017. doi: 10.5317/wjog.v6.i3.16
Is nitric oxide level affected in postmenopausal women with hypothyroidism?
Kiran Dahiya, Deepika Dalal, Vani Malhotra, Sameer Aggarwal, Ashish Kumar Malik, Veena Singh Ghalaut, Priya Dahiya
Kiran Dahiya, Deepika Dalal, Veena Singh Ghalaut, Department of Biochemistry, Pt. BD Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana 124001, India
Vani Malhotra, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pt. BD Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana 124001, India
Sameer Aggarwal, Department of Medicine, Pt. BD Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana 124001, India
Ashish Kumar Malik, Department of Psychiatry, Pt. BD Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana 124001, India
Priya Dahiya, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rajshree Medical Research Institute, Bareilly, UP 243501, India
Author contributions: Dahiya K and Dalal D contributed equally to the work; Dahiya K, Dalal D, Malhotra V and Aggarwal S designed the research work; Malhotra V and Aggarwal S treated the patients; Dahiya K and Dalal D collected material and clinical data from patients; Dahiya K, Dalal D and Ghalaut VS performed the assays; Dalal D, Malik AK and Dahiya P analyzed data; Dahiya K, Dahiya P and Dalal D wrote the paper. Malhotra V, Aggarwal S, Malik AK and Ghalaut VS approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This work was part of MD thesis project of Dr. Deepika Dalal under supervision of Dr. Kiran Dahiya and co-supervision of Dr. Vani Malhotra and Dr. Sameer Aggarwal. It was duly reviewed and approved by Institutional PG Board of Studies.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all the subjects of the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Kiran Dahiya, MD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Pt. BD Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana 124001, India. biochemistry.pgims@hry.nic.in
Telephone: +91-98-96111985
Received: May 2, 2017
Peer-review started: May 10, 2017
First decision: May 25, 2017
Revised: June 25, 2017
Accepted: July 10, 2017
Article in press: July 11, 2017
Published online: August 10, 2017
Abstract
AIM

To analyze serum levels of nitric oxide (NO), an indicator of cardiovascular health, in post-menopausal females with and without hypothyroidism.

METHODS

NO was analyzed colorimetrically in 30 newly diagnosed hypothyroid postmenopausal females and 30 postmenopausal females with normal thyroid profile. Results were compared and subjected to appropriate statistical analysis.

RESULTS

The levels of serum NO were found to be significantly decreased in postmenopausal females with hypothyroidism as compared to the levels in those with normal thyroid profile (P value < 0.05). A negative correlation of NO was observed with thyroid stimulating hormone whereas a positive correlation of NO was observed with free T3 (FT3), free T4 (FT4), T3 and T4 though it was statistically significant only for FT4 among postmenopausal females with hypothyroidism.

CONCLUSION

Postmenopausal hypothyroid females may be at a risk of compromised cardiovascular health as indicated by low NO levels. Regular monitoring and risk assessment is essential for timely intervention.

Keywords: Nitric oxide, Menopause, Thyroid profile, Hypothyroidism, Cardiovascular health

Core tip: It is already established that post-menopausal women on account of low levels of reproductive hormones are at a greater risk of cardiovascular accidents. Hypothyroidism, itself, is also a risk factor for poor cardiovascular health. In this study, significantly low levels of nitric oxide (NO) were observed in postmenopausal hypothyroid females as compared to those in postmenopausal euthyroid females, thereby, indicating the significant role played by NO in cardioprotection as well as a need for regular monitoring of NO levels and thyroid profile in postmenopausal phase of life.