The Effect of Inflammation on the Formation of Thyroid Nodules

Abstract

Background. Some studies have demonstrated that inflammation is highly associated with the prevalence of thyroid nodules (TNs). However, more confounders, such as metabolic diseases, should be adjusted. Methods. A clinical study collecting 2722 subjects was conducted to confirm the association between inflammation and TNs. The underlying mechanism was investigated in combination with bioinformatics analysis. Results. In the clinical study, propensity score matching was used to match metabolic parameters and other confounders, and it is observed that subjects with high inflammation had a higher prevalence of TNs and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) than those with low inflammation. After further matching TNs, it is found that inflammation was positively associated with TSH, which was also demonstrated in a population without TNs. In bioinformatics study, inflammation did not promote TNs formation directly. Instead, it inhibited the synthesis of thyroid hormone, which might be the cause of the elevated TSH coexisting with inflammation. Conclusion. Inflammation promotes the development of TNs disease, probably due to its indirect effect through inhibiting the synthesis of thyroid hormone, which results in the elevation of TSH.