Association of Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone and Thyroid Hormones with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Euthyroid Children and Adolescents Aged 10–18 Years: A Population-Based Study

Recent evidence indicates that low-normal thyroid function test results within the reference ranges may be related to increased cardiometabolic risk factors. The current study aimed to evaluate the relationship between thyroid function using thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4) and cardiometabolic risk factors and the clustering of these risk factors (metabolic syndrome) in euthyroid children and adolescents. A total of 250 euthyroid children and adolescents aged 10–18 years were included using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2015. In the unadjusted correlation analyses, TSH was positively correlated with glucose (r = 0.172, P = 0.006), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) (r = 0.149, P = 0.018), insulin (r = 0.144, P = 0.023), homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (r = 0.163, P = 0.010), and triglyceride (TG) (r = 0.155, P = 0.014), whereas FT4 was negatively associated with the waist circumference (WC) standard deviation score (SDS) (r = −0.134, P = 0.035), body mass index (BMI) SDS (r = −0.126, P = 0.046), insulin (r = −0.219, P < 0.001), and HOMA-IR (r = −0.211, P < 0.001). In the multiple linear regression analysis, TSH was positively associated with glucose (β = 1.179, P = 0.021), HbA1c (β = 0.044, P = 0.039), and TG (β = 8.158, P = 0.041) after adjustment for possible confounders. FT4 was negatively associated with serum fasting insulin (β = −5.884, P = 0.017) and HOMA-IR (β = −1.364, P = 0.023) in the multiple linear regression analysis. Boys and girls with elevated glucose levels had a higher adjusted mean TSH level compared to those without elevated glucose levels after controlling for confounding factors in the analysis of covariance (2.16 mIU/L vs 3.88 mIU/L, P = 0.004). Our results suggest that higher TSH and/or lower FT4 levels, even within the reference ranges, may be related to increased cardiometabolic risk factors.