[The application of normobaric hypoxytherapy for the subclinical hypothyroidism].

Unlabelled: At present, there is no uniform approach to the treatment of subclinical hypothyroidism (SH). The objective of the present study was to estimate the influence of normobaric hypoxytherapy on the thyroid status and immunological characteristics of the patients presenting with subclinical hypothyroidism.

Material And Methods: The study involved 140 patients at the age varying from 18 to 60 years suffering from SH associated with autoimmune thyroiditis: 75 of them underwent a course of hypoxytherapy, the remaining 65 patients comprised the control group.

Results: The changes in the immune status of the patients with SH were apparent as the depression of cellular immunity and activation of humoral immunity which confirmed the autoimmune nature of the disease. Hypoxytherapy caused positive changes in the immune status of the patients in the form of increased number of CD3+ and CD(8+)-cells, reduction of the number of CD(4+)-cells, and the normalization of the immunoregulatory index. The evaluation of the parameters of humoral immunity has demonstrated normalization of the total B-lymphocyte content along with the level of serum IgA, IgM, IgG, reduction of circulating immune complexes and anti-thyroid antibodies. These changes promoted the recovery of the thyroid function that manifested itself as the normalization of the blood thyroid-stimulating hormone level.

Conclusion: It is concluded that hypoxytherapy can be recommended as monotherapy for the treatment of subclinical hypothyroidism as a tool for the influence on the key components of pathogenesis of this disease and prevention of the manifestation of its clinically expressed form.