The Impact of Vitamin D Supplementation on the IFNγ-IP10 Axis in Women with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Treated with Levothyroxine: A Double-blind Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial

Behrouz  Robat-Jazi; Saeed Mobini; Reza Chahardoli; Fatemeh Mansouri; Masoumeh Nodehi; Fatemeh Esfahanian; Ali Akbar  Saboor-Yaraghi

doi:10.18502/ijaai.v21i4.10288

Behrouz Robat-Jazi Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Saeed Mobini Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Reza Chahardoli School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Fatemeh Mansouri Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Masoumeh Nodehi Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Fatemeh Esfahanian Department of Endocrinology, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ali Akbar Saboor-Yaraghi Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijaai.v21i4.10288

Keywords: CD4-positive T-lymphocytes; Hashimoto disease; Interferon-gamma; Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors; Th1 cells; Vitamin D

Abstract

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) results from chemoattraction of inflammatory cells toward the thyroid gland by inducing the production of interferon-gamma (IFNγ)-induced protein 10 (IP10) by T helper (Th) 1 cells. Vitamin D may suppress the IFNγ-IP10 axis, but this new function of vitamin D has not yet been investigated in HT patients.

In an intervention and control group, patients received 50000 IU cholecalciferol or placebo every week for three months, respectively. The CD4+ T cells of 40 patients were isolated, and the mRNA expression levels of vitamin D receptor (VDR), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR)-α, and PPAR-γ genes were determined by real-time PCR. ELISA method was used to determine serum levels of vitamin D, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), IFN-γ, and IP10.

Vitamin D levels in the intervention group were significantly higher than in the placebo group after supplementation. PPAR-α and PPAR-γ gene expression levels did not differ significantly between the two groups. The serum levels of IP10, IFNγ, and TNF-α decreased significantly in the vitamin D group, as well as in the placebo group.

During this study, vitamin D levels significantly increased in the intervention group and inflammatory factors decreased. Based on the similar results obtained in the placebo group, further studies with larger sample sizes and longer intervention times are recommended.