Thyroid Dysfunction in Patients with Chronic Viral Hepatitis B and C during Alpha Interferon Therapy

Background and aims: thyroid dysfunction has been reported in patients with chronic viral hepatitis b and c before and after alpha interferon (ifn-a) therapy and a high prevalence of anti hepatitis c virus (anti­-hcv) antibodies in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis has been shown. the aim of this study was to determine the rate of thyroid dysfunction in hepatitis b virus (hbv) and hcv infected patients during ifna therapy and to compare them. .methods: in this prospective study, many patients with hepatitis b and c who had undergone ifna therapy were studied. eighteen cases of hbv and fifty-eight cases of hcv entered the study. thyroid weight measurement, thyroid functional test and anti-thyroid antibodies assay were performed when the study initiated and were repeated after two, four and six months. .results: thyroid dysfunction was not seen in the hbv group. only 6 (10.3%) cases of thyroid dysfunction were seen in hcv group (5 hypothyroidism and 1 thyroiditis). four cases of them had positive levels of tpo ab before ifn-a therapy. in the hbv group, only 1 (5.5%) patient had positive levels of tpo ab. however, at the end of the study, 3 (16.7%) patients had positive levels of tpo ab. in the hcv group, at the beginning of the treatment, 8 (13.8%) patients had tpo ab; but at the end of study, 14 (24.1%) cases became positive. during the ifn-a therapy, mean weight of thyroid gland in both hcv and hbv groups were significantly increased (p<0.005, p<0.001, respectively). there were not any relationships between tg ab levels and duration of ifna therapy. .conclusions: patients with hcv are more susceptible to thyroid dysfunction during ifn-a therapy than patients with hbv. as a result, screening of thyroid gland function and tpo ab titers in all patients with hcv before and during ifn-a therapy may be necessary. however, this needs further studies in hbv patients.