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Thyroid functions and autoimmunity in Egyptian children with chronic hepatitis C virus infection before interferon treatment

Background: The association of thyroid dysfunction with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected children who are on interferon therapy is well established. But thyroid functions in untreated chronic HCV children is an aspect which the present study intended to explore. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional controlled study. Materials and Methods: The study included 30 children with chronic hepatitis C (Group 1; mean age 9.86 ± 2.22 years). Thirty healthy children age- and sex-matched were included as control group (Group 2; mean age 8.54 ± 2.31 years). Measurement of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT 4 ), and free triiodothyronine (FT 3 ), as well as anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO Ab) and anti-thyroglobulin (Tg Ab) were done. Results: Mean TSH levels were significantly higher in the group 1 as compared to control (P < 0.001). Subclinical hypothyroidism was detected in 13.3% in the study group vs 3.3% in the control group (P < 0.001). Positive levels of TPO Ab and Tg Ab were found to be 23.3% and 13.3% in Group 1 compared with 6.6% and 3.3% in controls, respectively. We also observed a significant positive correlation between TSH levels and age, HCV duration, viral load, anti-TPO Abs, antiTg Abs, and negative correlation with FT4. Conclusions: Both subclinical hypothyroidism and thyroid autoimmunity are common in Egyptian children with chronic hepatitis C before interferon treatment.