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The association between longitudinal trends of thyroid hormones levels and incident hypertension in a euthyroid population

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 35, pages 1159–1169 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Thyroid hormones, including free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), have well-recognized effects on the cardiovascular system. However, the evidence is lacking regarding the relationship between repeated FT3, FT4, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) measurements and incident hypertension. The aim of this cohort study was to examine how longitudinal trends of serum FT3, FT4, and TSH levels are related to the development of hypertension in a euthyroid population. A prospective study (n = 5926) was performed in Tianjin, China. Participants without a history of hypertension were followed up for ~4 years (median: 3 years). Hypertension was defined according to the criteria of JNC7. FT3, FT4, and TSH were determined by chemiluminescence immunoassay methods. FT3, FT4, TSH, and blood pressure were assessed yearly during follow-up. Adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the relationships between baseline, means, and annual changes in FT3, FT4, TSH, and hypertension. The incidence rate of hypertension per 1000 person-years was 73. Compared with the lowest quartile, the multivariable-adjusted hazards ratios (95% confidence interval) for hypertension in the highest quartiles of changes in FT3, FT4, and TSH were 1.51 (1.23–1.84), 2.04 (1.67–2.48), and 1.20 (0.99–1.45), respectively. Similar relationships were observed between the means of FT3, FT4, TSH, and hypertension. However, we found no correlations between baseline FT3, FT4, TSH, and incident hypertension. The present study is the first to demonstrate that the annual changes and means, but not baseline FT3 and FT4 values are independently related to the risk of incident hypertension in the euthyroid general population.

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Data cannot be made publicly available because public availability would compromise participant privacy. For data access, researchers can contact the Nutritional Epidemiology Institute and School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China (E-mail address: nkj0809@gmail.com or niukaijun@tmu.edu.cn).

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Huiping Li, Jun Dong, Xiaoxi Zheng, Shinan Gan, Tong Ji, Jie Cheng, Mingxu Ye, Zhixia Cao, Xu Zhang and Xinrong Dong that have made this study.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 91746205, 81872611, and 81673166), China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutritional Epidemiology Institute and School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    Yawen Wang, Yeqing Gu, Ge Meng, Hongmei Wu, Shunming Zhang, Tingjing Zhang, Xuena Wang & Kaijun Niu

  2. Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China

    Yeqing Gu

  3. Health Management Centre, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China

    Qing Zhang, Li Liu, Shaomei Sun, Xing Wang, Ming Zhou, Qiyu Jia, Kun Song & Kaijun Niu

  4. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environment, Nutrition and Public Health, Tianjin, China

    Kaijun Niu

  5. Center for International Collaborative Research on Environment, Nutrition and Public Health, Tianjin, China

    Kaijun Niu

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  1. Yawen Wang
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Wang, Y., Gu, Y., Zhang, Q. et al. The association between longitudinal trends of thyroid hormones levels and incident hypertension in a euthyroid population. J Hum Hypertens 35, 1159–1169 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-020-00474-4

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