International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Bassey IE et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2016 Jan;4(1):189-193 www.msjonline.org

Research Article

pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20160029

Thyroid function in hypertensives in South-South Nigeria Iya E. Bassey1*, Rebecca M. Gali2, Okon E. Essien3, Alphonsus E. Udoh1, Bukola Emordi4, Uwem O. Akpan1 1

Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria 2 Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Medical Sciences, University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria 3 Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria 4 Department of Chemical Pathology, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria Received: 09 November 2015 Accepted: 17 December 2015 *Correspondence: Dr. Iya E. Bassey, E-mail: [email protected] Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Hypertension is the most common cardiovascular disease afflicting humans. It has been reported that hypertensive patients may have a tendency for impaired thyroid function but, these results have not always been confirmed. The aim of this study therefore was to determine the serum level of thyroid hormones in hypertensive subjects and any possible relationship between serum thyroid hormone levels and hypertension. Methods: Blood samples were consecutively obtained from One hundred and seventy (170) consenting subjects. One hundred were hypertensive subjects while seventy subjects were normotensive controls. Triiodothyronine (T3), Thyroxine (T4) and Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were analyzed using ELISA kits. Data was analyzed using student “t” test and analysis of variance. The difference was considered statistically significant at p < 0.05. Results: The mean serum TSH value for hypertensive subjects was 3.01±2.42 µIu/ml and was significantly higher (p