The association between electrolyte and malignant tendency of thyroid nodules: a case-control study
Meng Tian#1  Guangxi Liang#1  Yuetian Zhang1  Haoyuan Zuo1  Banggao Ni1

1 Endocrine Thyroid Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center, People’s Hospital of Deyang City, Deyang, 618000, Sichuan, China.

# Contributed equally.

Abstract：Background and aims: Thyroid nodules are common, aberrant electrolyte homeostasis can produce carcinogenic synergies. This study aimed to assess the association between electrolyte and malignant tendency of thyroid nodules.

Methods: This study aimed to investigate the association between malignant tendency of thyroid nodules and electrolyte. A total of 509 patients with malignant thyroid nodules (MTNs) and 454 patients with benign thyroid nodules (BTNs) were included in our study according to histopathological biopsy, and the electrolyte and thyroid function indexes were detected by the automatic biochemical analyzer and the fully automated microparticle chemiluminescence instrument.

Results: We found that the concentrations of magnesium (Mg), chlorine (CL), and sodium (Na) in blood of patients with MTNs were significantly lower than those in patients with BTNs (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that low Mg, CL, and Na concentrations were consistent risk factors for thyroid nodule malignancy. Further more, partial correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis showed that the Na was positively correlated with free triiodothyronine (FT3) in female.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that electrolyte (Mg, CL, Na) is negatively associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer (TC), and have a protective effect on TC. Low level of Na increase the malignant tendency of thyroid nodules in female, which may be associated with disturbing the balance of FT3.

Keywords: benign thyroid nodules； malignant thyroid nodules；electrolyte

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