Dose Hypothyroidism Inhibit the Synthesis of Galectin-16? A New Trial to Find a Decisive Diagnostic Marker for Hypothyroidism

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Education for Girls, University of Kufa, Najaf, Iraq

^* Corresponding author: rasha.alfahham@uokufa.edu.iq

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the levels of galectin-16 in serum samples from patients with thyroid disease (specifically hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism) and healthy individuals as controls. Interestingly, galectin-16 was not detected in serum samples from patients with hypothyroidism. However, the study found that the protein was also present in samples from the other two groups. When comparing galectin 16 levels between hypothyroid and hyperthyroid patient groups and controls, a statistically significant difference was observed (p=0.000). Notably, galectin-16 levels were not statistically significant between hyperthyroid patients and control subjects (p = 0.689). The results also showed that galectin-16 levels were significantly elevated in male patients with hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism compared with healthy males (p = 0.000). Similar results were observed when comparing female patients with healthy individuals. However, the study did not find any statistical differences between men and women in patients or controls. It is worth mentioning that galectin-16 has 100% sensitivity and specificity for hypothyroidism. Galectin-16 has a sensitivity of 13% and a specificity of 93.33% for detecting hyperthyroidism. From these findings it can be concluded that galectin-16 is an important diagnostic indicator of hypothyroidism, exceeding its effectiveness in distinguishing between normal and pathological conditions.