ArticleBMC gastroenterology2023
Low thyroid function is associated with an increased risk of advanced fibrosis in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease.
Article in BMC gastroenterology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Exercise-Induced Hepatic Mitochondrial Reprogramming Across Muscle-Gut-Thyroid Axes in MASLD/MASH.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Impaired central sensitivity to thyroid hormones is associated with increased liver fibrosis degree in the euthyroid population.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2026Article
- Cardiovascular Risk Determinants in Euthyroid Patients with Obesity: The Strange Case of TSH in Primary Prevention.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- A Positive Correlation of Basal Metabolic Rate With Significant Liver Fibrosis in Adults With MASLD and Obesity: Results From NHANES 2017-2020.Canadian journal of gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Article
- Impact of thyroid dysfunction and diabetes on fibrosis and steatosis stages in metabolic dysfunction associated fatty liver disease.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Hypothyroidism/subclinical hypothyroidism and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: advances in mechanism and treatment.Lipids in health and disease · 2025Review
- ECM remodeling in hypothyroidism-associated MAFLD: mechanisms, clinical relevance, and therapeutic targets.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Actions of thyroid hormones and thyromimetics on the liver.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2025Review
- Thyroid function and hepatic fibrosis/cirrhosis: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in genetics · 2025Article
- Association Between Subclinical Hypothyroidism and MASLD: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of hepatology · 2025Review
- Thyroid function and liver fibrosis: FT3 levels are inversely and independently correlated with enhanced liver fibrosis score in solid organ transplant patients with dysglycemia.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Article
- Elevated thyroid autoantibodies as risk factors for metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Low-Normal Thyroid Function Is Not Associated with Either Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or with Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Inter-Organ Crosstalk Reveals an Inevitable Link between MAFLD and Extrahepatic Diseases.Nutrients · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimsObservational studies showed that low thyroid function may perturb liver function. We aimed to evaluate the association of low thyroid function with both metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and advanced hepatic fibrosis.
methodsParticipants who underwent abdominal ultrasonography and thyroid function test in a Chinese hospital from 2015 to 2021were enrolled. Fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) > 2.67 and/or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis score (NFS) > 0.676 were used to define advanced fibrosis. Descriptive analyses were performed to characterize the epidemiology of MAFLD according to levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). The logistic regression model was applied to estimate the association of low thyroid function with MAFLD and advanced fibrosis.
resultsA total of 19,946 participants (52.78% males, mean age: 47.31 years, 27.55% MAFLD) were included, among which 14,789 were strict-normal thyroid function, 4,328 were low-normal thyroid function, 829 were subclinical hypothyroidism. TSH levels were significantly higher in MAFLD patients with a FIB-4 > 2.67 and /or NFS > 0.676 than their counterparts. The logistic regression model adjusted for age and sex showed that low-normal thyroid function increased the risk of MAFLD (odds ratio [OR] = 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.18). Multivariable regression model adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension showed low-normal thyroid function increased the risk of advanced fibrosis in patients with MAFLD (FIB-4 > 2.67: OR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.02-1.93; NFS > 0.676: OR = 1.72, 95% CI 1.08-2.72).
conclusionElevated TSH concentrations are associated with advanced hepatic fibrosis, even in the euthyroid state.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.