Serum free thyroxine levels are associated with the efficacy of weight reduction therapy in obese female patients

Thyroid function is strongly associated with obesity. The aim of this study is to investigate whether serum free thyroxine (FT4) and/or thyrotropin (TSH) levels are associated with the efficacy of weight reduction therapy in obese patients. We enrolled a total of 283 obese patients and cross-sectionally investigated the association of serum FT4 and/or TSH levels with metabolic features. Furthermore, in 97 obese patients who received 6-month weight reduction therapy, we assessed the relationship of serum FT4 and/or TSH levels to the efficacy of weight reduction therapy. Neither baseline serum FT4 nor TSH levels showed any correlations with body weight (BW) and body mass index (BMI) in these obese patients. However, in 57 obese female patients who underwent weight reduction therapy for six months, serum FT4 levels prior to the therapy was negatively correlated with the degrees of reduction of BW (r = -0.354, p = 0.007) and BMI (r = -0.373, p = 0.004). The correlation between baseline serum FT4 levels with the efficacy of weight reduction therapy was not observed in obese male or postmenopausal female patients. This study demonstrates that baseline serum FT4 levels are associated with weight reduction in obese female premenopausal patients. Therefore, baseline FT4 levels can be used as a clinical, noninvasive, hormonal predictor of weight reduction efficacy in obese patients.