Objective: Several immunological factors are emphasized in the etiology of autoimmune thyroid diseases and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) are commonly seen in patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between OCS and antithyroid antibodies.
Methods: The study included 145 patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis or Graves’ disease and 42 healthy controls. Thyroid function tests and serum thyroid autobody levels (anti-TG, anti-TPO, and anti-TSH) of the patients were measured. The socio-demographic data and OCS of the participants were evaluated with Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS).
Results: DOCS scores were higher in patients than in the control group. There was not found a significant relationship between fT3, fT4, and TSH levels and DOCS scores. Anti-TG positivity in females was associated with lower DOCS scores. Anti-TPO positivity in males had a positive correlation with DOCS scores. There was no correlation between gender and the presence of anti-TSH in terms of OCS severity. Univariate analysis found the highest OCS scores in anti-TPO positive, anti-TG, and anti-TSH negative patients. The group with the lowest OCS scores was found to be anti-TG positive, anti-TPO, and anti-TSH negative patients.
Conclusion: OCS severity could be affected by different thyroid autoantibody profiles in patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases. While anti-TG serves a protective role against OCS in women, the presence of anti-TPO may worsen the OCS in men. Additionally, the co-existence of different antithyroid antibodies may affect the severity of OCS differently according to gender.