Abstract:

Objective  To observe the changes of serum thyroid hormone levels in patients with nephrotic syndrome and decompensated cirrhosis and clarify the relationship between thyroid hormone level and serum albumin level.
Methods The serum thyrotropic-stimulating hormone(TSH) level,serum free triiodothyronine(FT3) level,and serum free tetraiodothyronine (FT4) level were determined by ECLIA in 30 decompensated cirrhosis patients,as well as in 30 patients with nephrotic syndrome and 30 healthy persons (normal control group).The correlation between serum thyroid hormone levels and  serum albumin levels  were analyzed. Results The FT4 and FT3 levels  in two patients groups were decreased compared with normal control group(P<0.01).The levels of serum FT3 and FT4 were positively correlated with serum albumin levels in nephrotic syndrome group（r₁=0.493，r₂=0.574，P<0.01）；the levels of serum FT3 and FT4 were also positively correlated with serum albumin levels in decompensated cirrhosis group（r₁= 0.513，r₂=0.607，P<0.01）.The levels of serum TSH had no correlation with serum albumin levels in two patients groups（r₁=－0.232，r₂=－0.129，P>0.05）.Conclusion
The  serum FT3 and FT4 levels in the patients with nephrotic syndrome or decompensated cirrhosis is often decreased,and the levels of serum FT3 and FT4  are  increased with the improvement of serum albumin levels.

Key words: nephrotic syndrome；decompensated cirrhosis ；nonthyroid illness syndrome；albumin；thyroid hormone