Background: Vitamin D deficiency is being increasingly recognized globally as a significant health problem.There is an increasing prevalence of thyroiditis in India. Vitamin D Deficiency has been implicated in many autoimmune diseases. Literature is conflicting on the association between serum 25-Hydroxy vitamin D (25-OH-D) level and auto immune thyroiditis. This study was designed to find if there is an association between serum Vitamin D level and autoimmune thyroiditis. Methodology:The study was conducted in the Department of Endocrinology, Govt. Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala, India. Seventy five cases with autoimmune thyroiditis were compared to 75 age and sex matched healthy subjects with respect to serum 25-OH-Dlevel. Results: Vitamin D levels were significantly low in cases than in controls(16.4 ±7.8ng/ml vs 29.4± 9.0ng/ml; p< 0.001). Serum25-OH-D levels < 20 ng/ml was more common in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis than controls with an odds ratio of 17.9 (95% CI 7.9-40.7). Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency has a significant association with autoimmune thyroiditis. Further research is needed to find causality of this association and to check whether vitamin D replacement can prevent or delay autoimmune thyroiditis
Autoimmune thyroid disease, Hypothyroidism, Vitamin D, Hashimotos thyroiditis
