VITAMIN D AND SELENIUM IN HASHIMOTO'S THYROIDITIS: BYSTANDERS OR PLAYERS?

Objective:To investigate the scientific evidence of how vitamin D and selenium are related to serum levels of thyroid hormones,anti-TPOAb antibodies and enzymatic activity, as well as the effect of supplementation. Methodology: The study was carried out by using PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases, limited according to type of study (original articles and meta-analyses), language (English, Spanish and Portuguese) and publication time (last ten years). Results: Individuals with Hashimoto's thyroiditis have a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (n= 11), which may contribute to the proliferation of antibodies, but it is unrelated to the hormones thyroxine and triiodothyronine. As for selenium, supplementation contributed to the reduction of antibodies (n=5) and improvement of the hormonal profile (n=6). Conclusion: Individuals with Hashimoto's thyroiditis have low serum levels of vitamin D and the supplementation of both calcitriol and selenium seem to be effective for the reduction of antibodies and improvement of the hormonal profile, but so far there is no convincing scientific evidence to support such practice. DOI: 10.12957/demetra.2018.30496