Assessment of Thyroid Hormonal Dysfunction and Related Oxidative Stress in Menopausal Women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Background: The thyroid gland plays a vital role in regulating metabolism, development, and energy balance, and is particularly sensitive to hormonal fluctuations and the aging process. Menopause and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are two conditions that independently influence endocrine and gastrointestinal function, and their coexistence may further contribute to systemic physiological disturbances. As well as, the oxidative stress act as a potential mediator affecting both thyroid function and gastrointestinal symptoms. This study aimed to evaluates the relationship between thyroid function during menopausal lifestyle with IBS, Methodology: A total of 80 menopausal women were included: 50 patients with IBS (25 early menopause: 40–45 years and 25 late menopauses: 50–60 years) and 30 healthy women in same both menopause stages without IBS as controls (15 participants in each menopause stage). All participants provided informed consent. Serum levels of T3, T4, FT3, FT4, and TSH were measured using the automated Roche Cobas e411 immunoassay platform. Also, the human total oxidant status (TOS) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) were determined (ELISA) method, according to the procedure provided by the manufacturer's instructions, Biont Co., Germany. A one-way ANOVA test was applied for data and used Least significant difference (LSD) to assess differences among groups. Pearson’s correlation was used to evaluate the relationship between two numerical variables. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant Results: Seum TSH and FT3 levels were significantly elevated and serum TT3, TT4 and FT4 were reduced in both early and late menopause in IBS women patients compared to both controls women with menopause stages without IBS respectively. Whereas, a high serum TSH concentration was observed in late menopause women with IBS compared to early menopause stage. Besides, a notable reduction (P<0.0001) of both serum TT4 and FT4 levels in late menopause compared to early menopause and control among IBS women patients. The oxidant-antioxidant status TOS showed a high significant in late menopause with IBS women compared the women without IBS in same stage. while, serum TOS levels not changeable significantly during early menopause among IBS patients than in control women. In conversely, serum TAC significantly reduced in both early and late menopause respectively among IBS women patients compared to the control women without IBS. Conclusion: This study reports that hormonal dysfunction status in thyroid gland during menopausal stage associated with IBS. This observed hormonal disturbances-particularly elevated TSH with lower both serum TT4 and FT4 levels upon HPT axis may be suggest an increased risk of hypothyroidism in late menopause than early menopause by the oxidative stress among IBS patient’s women.