Thyroid Dysfunction and Cardiovascular Risk—— Epidemiological Links, Mechanistic Pathways, and Clinical Management Strategies

  • Danyao Zhang
  • Yuelei Wu *
  • Haining Xi
Article ID: 4737
Keywords: Thyroid Dysfunction;Cardiovascular Risk;Epidemiology;Pathophys-iology;Thyroid Hormone Receptor - TRα1/TRβ1;Subclinical Thyroid Disease

Abstract

Abnormal thyroid function (hyperthyroidism/hypothyroidism) significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, and the associations are
population heterogeneous (older age, perimenopause in women, geographic
differences in iodine status). Epidemiologic studies have shown that subclinical
hyperthyroidism increases the risk of atrial fibrillation by 4.5-fold and coronary
events by 3.4-fold, especially in elderly and diabetic patients, and that subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH ≥7 mIU/L) significantly accelerates the progression of
coronary artery calcification (37.6% increase in annualized rate) and is associated with dyslipidemia and pericardial effusions. The core mechanisms involve
thyroid hormone receptor (TRα1/TRβ1)-mediated myocardial remodeling (regulation of genes such as MYH6/7, SERCA2a, and ion channel functions such
as HCN4 and Cx43), metabolic-oxidative stress axis damage (dysregulation of
SREBP-2/LXRs, eNOS uncoupling, and activation of NLRP3 inflammatory
vesicles), and neuroendocrine-hemodynamic interaction modulation (sympathetic overactivation/ANP resistance). Clinical management emphasizes thyroid
function screening (TSH/FT4) in patients with specific cardiovascular diseases
(e.g., heart failure, atrial fibrillation), individualization of treatment regimens for
hyperthyroidism (antithyroid, beta-blockers) and hypothyroidism (levothyroxine
titrated to a TSH of 0.5-2.0 mIU/L), and optimization of cardiovascular outcomes
through multidisciplinary collaborative pathways and long-term monitoring. Future focus needs to be on subclinical disease intervention threshold precision and
development of novel targeted agents (e.g., STRMs).

Published
2025-08-26

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