Prevalence of thyroid peroxidase autoantibodies in children and adolescence associated with Type 1 diabetes in Gezira state-Sudan

Objective: Auto immune thyroiditis (AIT) is more frequently occurred among children with type1 diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of thyroid autoantibodies among children with type 1 diabetes in Gezira state-Sudan. Materials and methods: 145 diabetic children (68 male and 77 female) attending for regular follow-up in the diabetic center in Wad-Medani pediatric hospital were enrolled in cross sectional descriptive study. Measurement of serum anti-TPO autoantibodies and serum TSH were carried out using immunological techniques (ELIZA) Results: The mean age of total study subjects was 12 ±3.9 years (range 3-18) and the median duration of diabetes was 4 years (range 1-16). Out of 145 patients, 7.5% (11) had positive antibodies. However, the prevalence of positive antibodies in females were reach (72.6 %) as compared to males (27.3) (P=0.219). Anti-TPO auto antibodies presented early within the first 5 years are less than those present later (27.3% versus 72.6%, p= 0.032) and the prevalence of these antibodies increased after the age of 10 years in both males and females (P= 0.753). The anti-TPO autoantibodies titer means for the positive and negative groups were (250.7±130.4 and 17.0±11.4 P=0.000) respectively. Serum TSH level was found abnormal in 45% of the anti TPO positive cases (5 out of 11). Conclusion: Study concluded that the prevalence of thyroid autoantibodies associated with diabetes duration and more developed with progress in a lifetime. The present study revealed that the presence of these antibodies were also harmful by gender and age of the patient. Therefore, the measurement of anti-TPO autoantibodies may be an earlier marker for thyroid abnormalities alongside with serum TSH screening and this will be helpful in early diagnosis of disease and patient management.