Retrospective study of the influence of hypothyroidism on liver function before radioiodine therapy in China: a comparison analysis based on patients with differentiated thyroid cancer

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study is to investigate the risk factors for hepatic dysfunction before radioiodine therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). METHODS: 996 patients (314 men, 682 women; age of 45.07±12.98 years) with postoperative DTC were recruited and divided into two groups including patients with and without hepatic dysfunction. The changes in baseline data and traced liver function levels, together with other metabolic profiles, were compared between the two groups. RESULT: Overall, 31.6% of patients had hepatic dysfunction. Higher aspartate aminotransferase and/or alanine aminotransferase was the most common abnormality (the prevalence rate was 47.5%). The percentages of mild and moderate hepatic dysfunction were 80.0% and 20.0%, respectively. Univariate analyses demonstrated that the most prominent risk factors for hepatic dysfunction (OR=0.324–3.171, p<0.01) were male sex with levothyroxine discontinuation and free triiodothyronine <2.01 pmol/L, free thyroxine (FT(4)) <4.78 pmol/L, thyroid-stimulating hormone >78.195 µIU/mL, total cholesterol >5.17 mmol/L, triglycerides (TG) >1.71 mmol/L and more than 21 days of thyroid hormone withdrawal. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that for men, FT(4) <3.80 pmol/L and TG ≥1.28 mmol/L were the most prominent risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with minor hepatic dysfunction and ortholiposis are more likely to recover to normal liver function. Patients with moderate hepatic dysfunction should be treated with hepatoprotective drugs. For men, FT(4) and TG levels tended to be associated with hepatic dysfunction, and the prognosis of hepatic dysfunction was closely related to the TG level.