Lack of Influence of Thyroid Hormone on Bone Mineral Density and Body Composition in Healthy Euthyroid Women

Denise Engelbrecht Zantut-Wittmann; Alessandra Quintino-Moro; Priscilla Nazaré Silva Dos Santos; Vaneska Melhado-Kimura; Luís Bahamondes; Arlete Fernandes

doi:10.3389/fendo.2019.00890

Lack of Influence of Thyroid Hormone on Bone Mineral Density and Body Composition in Healthy Euthyroid Women

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2020 Jan 10:10:890. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00890. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Denise Engelbrecht Zantut-Wittmann¹, Alessandra Quintino-Moro², Priscilla Nazaré Silva Dos Santos², Vaneska Melhado-Kimura², Luís Bahamondes², Arlete Fernandes²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil.
² Family Planning Clinic of Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether evolution of bone mineral density (BMD) is associated with the thyroid hormone profile in a cohort of euthyroid women with no other known diseases within 1 year. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study conducted at the University of Campinas, Brazil. We used a database with 52 women aged 20-39 who were followed for 1 year in a family planning outpatient clinic. The inclusion criteria were body mass index (BMI) <30 kg/m², no known diseases/medication use, fasting glucose <100 mg/dl, and 2 h glucose after a 75 g oral glucose load <140 mg/dl. The women were divided into groups of normal weight (n = 30) and overweight (n = 22). The main outcomes were BMD measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and thyroid hormone profile (thyrotropin TSH, free triiodothyronine FT3, free thyroxine FT4, and T3/T4 ratio); other variables were body composition (DXA), calcium metabolism markers, and life habits. We used a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analyses to evaluate associations. Results: At the baseline data collection, overweight women showed a higher T3/T4 ratio, leptin, calcium, BMD in the lumbar spine and total femur, total mass, mass, and percentage of fat mass than normal weight women. At 12 months, both groups had increased FT4, calcium, ALP, femoral neck BMD, and total mass by time effect. The normal weight group presented a decrease of vitamin D when compared to the baseline. Increased BMD of the femoral neck was associated with moderate coffee intake, and as such, there were no associations found between this increase and the thyroid hormone profile. Leptin and ALP were associated with total mass variation, while leptin and PTH were associated with fat mass variation. The normal BMI was inversely associated with the variation of total mass, mass, and percentage of fat mass, and engaging in regular physical activity was inversely associated with fat mass variation. Conclusions: In this sample of euthyroid healthy women who were both normal weight and overweight, the thyroid hormone profile was not associated with variations in bone mineral density and body composition after a 1 year follow-up.

Keywords: body composition; bone mineral density; euthyroidism; healthy women; thyroid hormone.