Thyroid hormone level is associated with the frequency and severity of Guillain–Barré syndrome

ABSTRACT

Objective: Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) is a neurodegenerative and inflammatory demyelination disorder, and oxidative stress is concerned with the pathogenesis of the disease. Also, we found that thyroid hormone level is correlated to the oxidative and antioxidant status in previous studies. Our study was aimed to find the possible relationship between the frequency and severity of GBS and thyroid hormone levels. Materials and methods: We measured serum levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT₄) and free triiodothyronine (FT₃) in 238 individuals, including 90 GBS, 44 multiple sclerosis and 104 healthy controls. Results: Our findings demonstrate that the patients with GBS had lower TSH and higher FT_4, FT₄/FT₃ than healthy controls in the normal range. Furthermore, it was also shown in our study that TSH levels in patients with GBS were correlated with disease severity measured by the Hughes Functional Grading Scale. Conclusion: Lower TSH, higher FT₄ and FT₄/FT₃ stand for the oxidative status and are associated with the incidence and severity of GBS.

KEYWORDS:

• Guillain–Barré syndrome
• TSH
• FT₄
• FT₄/FT₃
• oxidative stress

Acknowledgments

We thank the doctors and the patients who participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no financial or other conflict of interests.

Additional information

Funding

The present study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province [grant number LQ15H090008].