ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the patterns of thyroid dysfunction and autoantibodies associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Methodology: The study was performed on a group of 35 SLE patients and 10 matched apparently healthy subjects as a control group. Various clinical and laboratory parameters of SLE were measured for both groups. Also thyroid function tests were measured, which included TT3, FT4 and TSH. Antimicrosomal and antithyroglobulin antibodies were measured for patients. Patients were classified according to their thyroid function tests into 3 subgroups: subclinical hypothyroid (10 patients), subclinical hyperthyroid (8 patients) and euthyroid (17 patients).
Results: We found that the euthyroid subgroup showed lower hemoglobin level, higher ESR, and higher serum creatinine level that was of a high statistical significance (p<0.01). Also TSH level (2.4