relationship between body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and serum lipid concentrations and thyroid-stimulating hormone in the euthyroid adult population

background: the aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between body mass index (bmi), waist-to-hip ratio, and lipid parameters and serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (tsh) levels in healthy euthyroid individuals. methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted between june 1st and july 20th, 2013, at bushehr university of medical sciences. one hundred forty euthyroid individuals were divided into 2 groups: a high-tsh group (tsh between 2.0 and 5.5 miu/l, n=67) and a low-tsh group (tsh between 0.3 and 2.0 miu/l, n=73). after overnight fast, total cholesterol, triglyceride (tg), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (hdl-c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (ldl-c), tsh, thyroxine (t4), and triiodothyronine (t3) were measured. height and weight were measured with a stadiometer, and bmi was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. waist-to-hip ratio was determined as waist circumference divided by hip circumference. the simple independent t-test and a general linear model were used for statistical analysis. all statistical analyses were done using the spss, version 15, statistical software package. results: bmi and ldl-c were significantly higher in the high-tsh group than in the low-tsh group after adjustment for age, sex, calorie intake, total fat and carbohydrate intakes, and physical activity. no significant differences were found between the groups in tg, cholesterol, and hdl-c. the association between tsh levels andt4 was significant. conclusion: individuals with tsh levels at the upper limit of normality might be at risk of hypercholesterolemia and obesity.