Common subclinical hypothyroidism during Whipple's disease

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases 2014-07, Vol.14 (1), p.370-370, Article 370
• Main Authors: Lagier, Jean-Christophe, Fenollar, Florence, Chiaroni, Jacques, Picard, Christophe, Oddoze, Christiane, Abi-Rached, Laurent, Raoult, Didier
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Antibiotics; Antibodies; Biopsy; Care and treatment; Chronic illnesses; Development and progression; Female; France - epidemiology; Genetic aspects; Health aspects; HLA-D Antigens - genetics; Hormones; Humans; Hypothyroidism; Hypothyroidism - epidemiology; Hypothyroidism - microbiology; Immunoassay; Infections; Life Sciences; Male; Middle Aged; Older people; Patient outcomes; Risk factors; Studies; Thyroxine; Viral antibodies; Whipple Disease - epidemiology; Whipple Disease - genetics; Whipple Disease - physiopathology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1471-2334; 1471-2334
• DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-14-370

Classic Whipple's disease is caused by T. whipplei and likely involves genetic predispositions, such as the HLA alleles DRB1*13 and DQB1*06, that are more frequently observed in patients. T. whipplei carriage occurs in 2-4% of the general population in France. Subclinical hypothyroidism, characterized by high levels of TSH and normal free tetra-iodothyronine (fT4) dosage, has been rarely associated with specific HLA factors. We retrospectively tested TSHus in 80 patients and 42 carriers. In cases of dysthyroidism, we tested the levels of free-T4 and anti-thyroid antibodies, and the HLA genotypes were also determined for seven to eight patients. In this study, 72-74% of patients and carriers were male, and among the 80 patients, 14 (17%) individuals had a high level of TSH, whereas none of the carriers did (p