The Relations Between Levels of Cadmium and Thyroid Parameters in Hemodialysis Patients

The aim of the present study is to determine whether there are statisti-cally differences between hemodialysis patients and control (healthy) groups according to level of serum cadmium (Cd), total triiodothyronine (T3) and total thyroxine (T4) and adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH), and besides whether there are any correlation coefficients of trace element with thyroid profiles, ACTH in these groups. Material and Methods: The study included 47 hemodialysis patient who were dialyzed three times a week and each session was at least 4 hours. The duration of dialysis range were 2-16 yr. This gro-up called as a "Hemodialyis group". Blood samples were taken before (pre-hemodialysis) and after (post-hemodialysis) hemodialysis session. "Control group" included 23 healthy volunteers with no medical problem. In control group, samples were taken after 10 hour fasting. Results: Levels of total T3 were higher in group of control than the levels of pre-hemodialysis and post-hemodialysis (p≤0.001). Total T3 levels were lower in pre-hemodialysis (p≤0.05) than those of post-hemodialysis. The highest level of total T4 and lowest level of Cd were in control group and these parameters were statisti-cally different from the pre-hemodialysis (respectively p≤0.001, p≤0.01). We did not determine any significant differences between all groups according to data of ACTH levels. Discussion: We suggest that analyzing the levels of Cd may be useful for the hemodialysis patients. But, we did not determine a significant association between Cd and thyroid profiles and ACTH levels.