"prevalence of autoantibodies to thyroid peroxidase and autoimmune thyroid disease in type i diabetes mellitus"

type i diabetes mellitus (dm) is frequently associated with autoimmune thyroid disease (atd). association of atd and type i dm has been described with varying frequencies but there is still debate about the situation in the iranian population. we investigated the prevalence of anti thyroid peroxidase (anti-tpo) antibodies and atd in children and adolescents with type i dm. a total of 145 patients with type i dm were participated in this study. they were screened for anti-tpo antibodies and tsh levels. signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism and the presence of goiter were sought. a group of 50 healthy unrelated girls and boys aged 11-16 years served as controls. anti-tpo antibodies were found in 34 (23.4%) diabetic patients and 1 subject (2%) in the control group (p<0.001). frequency of anti tpo antibodies was significantly higher in girls than boys (p<0.05). we failed to show any significant correlation between thyroid autoimmunity and duration of dm. we found that younger patients at diagnosis are more likely to be anti-tpo negative (p<0.001). out of 145 diabetic patients, 32 (22%) had visible goiter. subclinical hypothyroidism, hypothyroidism and thyrotoxicosis occurred in 1, 9 and 1 patients, respectively. visible goiter was found in 2 subjects (4%) of the control group, but all of them were euthyroid. in conclusion, the evaluation of thyroid autoimmunity in type i diabetic patients may improve the diagnosis of thyroid disease in early stages. yearly examination of anti-tpo antibodies allows identifying diabetic patients with thyroid autoimmunity.