Evaluation of Serum Homocysteine and Vitamin B12 Status in Patients with Hypothyroidism

Background: Thyroid hormone insufficiency is the hallmark of hypothyroidism, a common endocrine condition that profoundly affects cellular metabolism. According to recent research, hypothyroidism and increased cardiovascular risk are strongly correlated and may be mediated by hyperhomocysteinemia. The metabolism of homocysteine (Hcy) is closely associated with B vitamins, particularly folate and vitamin B12. Objective: This study's main goals were to assess serum homocysteine and vitamin B12 levels in patients with primary hypothyroidism in comparison to healthy controls and to examine the relationship between these metabolic markers and thyroid function parameters (TSH, fT3, and fT4) in an Eastern Indian population. Methods: Over the course of six months, the Department of General Medicine and Biochemistry at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Patna, carried out this observational cross-sectional study. 115 patients with primary hypothyroidism and 115 healthy controls who were matched for age and sex made up the study population. Chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) was used to evaluate the levels of serum free T3 (fT3), free T4 (T4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), vitamin B12, and homocysteine. Using SPSS version 26.0, statistical analysis was carried out, utilizing Pearson's correlation coefficient to evaluate associations between variables and the student’s t-test for group comparisons. Results: In comparison to controls (2.3 ±1.1 µIU/mL), the mean serum TSH in the case group was considerably higher (14.2 ± 6.1 µIU/mL). The mean serum homocysteine levels of hypothyroid patients were substantially higher (19.8 ± 5.4 µmol/L) than those of the control group (10.2 ± 3.1 µIU/mL; p