Thyroid involvement in hepatitis C - associated mixed cryoglobulinemia.
OBJECTIVE
The prevalence and clinical features of thyroid involvement in patients with hepatitis C virus-associated mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC+HCV) have been reviewed.


METHODS
A PubMed Medline search was conducted through December 2011 to identify all studies that reported thyroid involvement in MC+HCV patients. Reference lists of the papers initially detected were manually searched to identify additional relevant reports. Studies had to contain sufficient and clear information to be included.


RESULTS
In MC+HCV patients, the following thyroid autoimmune abnormalities were significantly more frequent than in controls: high levels of serum anti-thyroperoxidase autoantibody (AbTPO); high levels of serum AbTPO and/or anti-thyroglobulin autoantibody; humoral and ultrasonographical signs of thyroid autoimmunity (35% vs 16%); prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism (11% vs 2%). Also, the prevalence of papillary thyroid cancer has been found higher in MC+HCV patients than in controls, in particular in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis. The involvement of T helper 1 immunity and chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 10 (CXCL10) may be the pathogenetic basis of the association between MC+HCV and thyroid autoimmunity.


CONCLUSIONS
These results show a high prevalence of thyroid disorders in patients with MC+HCV and point to the need for careful monitoring of thyroid function in these patients.
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Poupak
P
Fallahi
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Silvia Martina
SM
Ferrari
Department of Medical, Surgical, Maternal, Pediatric and Adult Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
Dilia
D
Giuggioli
Department of Medical, Surgical, Maternal, Pediatric and Adult Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
Andreina
A
Manfredi
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Caterina
C
Mancusi
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Silvia
S
Fabiani
Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Latina, Italy.
Marco
M
Centanni
Department of Translational Research and of New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Santino
S
Marchi
Department of Medical, Surgical, Maternal, Pediatric and Adult Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
Clodoveo
C
Ferri
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Alessandro
A
Antonelli
D001323:Autoantibodies; D003449:Cryoglobulinemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology*
D001323:Autoantibodies