Thyroid Hormone Status in Overweight Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Christian Langrock; Johannes Hebebrand; Katharina Radowksi; Eckard Hamelmann; Thomas Lücke; Martin Holtmann; Tanja Legenbauer; Börge Schmidt; Mirjam Frank; Karl-Heinz Jöckel; Thomas Reinehr

doi:10.1159/000485620

Thyroid Hormone Status in Overweight Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Horm Res Paediatr. 2018;89(3):150-156. doi: 10.1159/000485620. Epub 2018 Jan 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition Medicine, Vestische Kinder- und Jugendklinik Datteln, University of Witten/Herdecke, Datteln, Germany.
² Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Universitätsklinikum Essen (AöR), University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany.
³ Children's Center Bethel, Protestant Hospital Bethel, Bielefeld, Germany.
⁴ Department of Neuropediatrics, University Children's Hospital, St. Josef Hospital Bochum, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
⁵ LWL University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
⁶ Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany.

PMID: 29320782
DOI: 10.1159/000485620

Abstract

Background: There is an ongoing discussion whether thyroid hormones are involved in the development and course of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Since obesity is associated with both higher thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free triiodothyronine (fT3) concentrations and increased rates of ADHD, we hypothesized that overweight children with ADHD show higher TSH and fT3 concentrations compared to overweight children without ADHD.

Methods: TSH, fT3, fT4, and leptin levels were analyzed in 230 children (60.9% boys, 9.3 ± 1.7 years old, 35.7% migration background). The children were divided into four groups (I = 26 overweight children with ADHD, II = 56 normal-weight children with ADHD, III = 66 overweight children without ADHD, and IV = 82 normal-weight children without ADHD). Severity of ADHD was determined by the parent version of the Connors 3® rating scales.

Results: Overweight children with ADHD did not differ significantly from overweight children without ADHD with respect to TSH, fT3, or fT4 concentrations. Comparing the thyroid hormones between the four groups also demonstrated no significant differences for TSH and fT4 concentrations. fT3 concentrations were significantly higher in normal-weight children with ADHD compared to normal-weight children without ADHD. Inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity scores were not significantly related to TSH or fT3 in multiple regression analyses adjusted for age, gender, and migration background. In these analyses, TSH was associated with BMI SDS (β coefficient 0.19 ± 0.12, p = 0.002) and leptin (exp[β coefficient] 1.87 ± 1.36, p < 0.001). fT3 (β coefficient 0.06 ± 0.05, p = 0.009) and leptin (exp[β coefficient] 1.17 ± 1.13, p = 0.009) were also associated with BMI SDS.

Conclusions: Our findings confirm the relation between overweight and thyroid hormones but point against the hypothesis that thyroid hormones might link overweight and ADHD in children.

Keywords: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; Leptin; Obesity; Thyroid hormones.

MeSH terms

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / blood*
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / complications
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Pediatric Obesity / blood*
Pediatric Obesity / complications
Thyrotropin / blood*
Thyroxine / blood*
Triiodothyronine / blood*

Substances

Triiodothyronine
Thyrotropin
Thyroxine