Back to discover
Disease

Hypothyroidism

Late-stage therapeutic developmentEmerging researchRising momentum
14
Publications
18
Clinical trials
5
Related conditions
3
Related treatments
2025
Latest publication
Latest activity
beta

Recent clinical, regulatory, research and industry developments relating to this disease.

Thyroid hormone and the Liver.

Research2024-12-20Hepatology communications

Thyroid Hormone Homeostasis in Levothyroxine-treated Patients: Findings From ELSA-Brasil.

Research2024-09-01The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism

Thyroid Hormone and Diabetes Mellitus Interplay: Making Management of Comorbid Disorders Complicated.

Research2024-08-19Hormone and metabolic research = Hormon- und Stoffwechselforschung = Hormones et metabolisme

Effects of thyroid hormones in skeletal muscle protein turnover.

Research2024-07-01Journal of basic and clinical physiology and pharmacology

Hypothyroidism and metabolic cardiovascular disease.

Research2024-06-03Frontiers in endocrinology

Risks of suboptimal and excessive thyroid hormone replacement across ages.

Research2023-11-28Journal of endocrinological investigation

Primary Hypothyroidism and Alzheimer's Disease: A Tale of Two.

Research2023-08-04Cellular and molecular neurobiology

What's happening now

An analyst briefing on current research, clinical, regulatory and industry activity surrounding this disease.

Therapeutic landscape

Therapies with a regulatory footing for this condition, alongside the wider set of agents co-studied with it in the literature.

Approved & established therapies
Lomitapideapproved

Approval — Lojuxta is indicated as an adjunct to a low?fat diet and other lipid?lowering medicinal p… (2013)

Mecaserminapproved

Approval — For the long-term treatment of growth failure in children and adolescents with severe pri… (2007)

Research-associated treatments

Clinical trials

17 sponsors · 0 new · 0 completed in the last 12 months (net +0)

The current development programme across all trial phases.

Clinical programme
18
All trials
6
Active
16
Late-stage
6
Completed
Late-stage studies
Recruiting
Recently completed

Regulatory timeline

Drug regulatory events matched to this condition by indication — EMA.

First approvals
2013emaApprovalLomitapide· Lojuxta is indicated as an adjunct to a low?fat diet and other lipid?lowering medicinal products with or without low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis in adult patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HoFH). Genetic confirmation of HoFH should be obtained whenever possible. Other forms of primary hyperlipoproteinaemia and secondary causes of hypercholesterolaemia (e.g. nephrotic syndrome, hypothyroidism) must be excluded. source ↗
2007emaApprovalMecasermin· For the long-term treatment of growth failure in children and adolescents with severe primary insulin-like-growth-factor-1 deficiency (primary IGFD). Severe primary IGFD is defined by: height standard deviation score ? -3.0 and; basal insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels below the 2.5th percentile for age and gender and; growth hormone (GH) sufficiency; exclusion of secondary forms of IGF-1 deficiency, such as malnutrition, hypothyroidism, or chronic treatment with pharmacologic doses of anti-inflammatory steroids. Severe primary IGFD includes patients with mutations in the GH receptor (GHR), post-GHR signalling pathway, and IGF-1 gene defects; they are not GH deficient, and therefore, they cannot be expected to respond adequately to exogenous GH treatment. It is recommended to confirm the diagnosis by conducting an IGF-1 generation test. source ↗

European Medicines Agency (CC BY 4.0). Events are matched to this condition by drug indication text — approvals/updates for drugs indicated for it, not disease-specific acts.

Research activity

14 papers

Key research shaping understanding of this disease, combining the latest publications with the most influential evidence.

Publications over time
20192025
Recent publications

Thyroid hormone and the Liver.

Hepatology communications · 2025 · 13 cites

Hypothyroidism and metabolic cardiovascular disease.

Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024 · 17 cites

Effects of thyroid hormones in skeletal muscle protein turnover.

Journal of basic and clinical physiology and pharmacology · 2024 · 15 cites

Thyroid Hormone Homeostasis in Levothyroxine-treated Patients: Findings From ELSA-Brasil.

The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2024 · 13 cites

Risks of suboptimal and excessive thyroid hormone replacement across ages.

Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2024 · 12 cites
Major themes8
  • Hypothyroidism8
  • Thyroid Hormones3
  • Thyroxine2
  • Alzheimer Disease1
  • Arthritis, Rheumatoid1
  • Cardiovascular Diseases1
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 21
  • Homeostasis1
Leading journals6
  • Frontiers in endocrinology2
  • Cellular and molecular neurobiology1
  • Endocrine reviews1
  • European journal of endocrinology1
  • Frontiers in immunology1
  • Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.)1
Leading researchers8
  • Biondi B2
  • Bliddal S2
  • Feldt-Rasmussen U2
  • A Crimmins N1
  • A Mencin A1
  • A Xanthakos S1
  • Al-Kuraishy HM1
  • AlAnazi FH1
Affiliations (unnormalised)6
  • Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery3
  • Academic Center for Thyroid Diseases1
  • Almazov National Medical Research Centre1
  • and Clinical Pharmacology1
  • Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana1
  • Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University1

Related conditions

5 matches

Diseases frequently studied alongside this one. Number shows shared papers.

Disease profile

A grounded synthesis of the condition — overview, causes, mechanism, risk factors and current standard of care.

Overview

Hypothyroidism is a syndrome caused by abnormally low secretion of thyroid hormones from the thyroid gland, which lowers basal metabolic rate. It can be primary, or secondary to pituitary disease or hypothalamic dysfunction. In severe cases, it can lead to mucopolysaccharide accumulation in the skin and edema, known as myxedema.

Causes

The grounding supports primary hypothyroidism and secondary hypothyroidism due to pituitary disease or hypothalamic dysfunction. It also indicates an autoimmune mechanism may contribute to thyroid dysfunction in related literature, but does not provide a specific causal statement for hypothyroidism itself beyond these categories.

Pathophysiology

Low thyroid hormone levels reduce metabolic activity and affect multiple target tissues, including liver, adipose tissue, pancreatic beta cells, skeletal muscle, and the cardiovascular system. The literature also links hypothyroidism with altered glucose and lipid metabolism, muscle protein turnover, and, in severe disease, mucopolysaccharide accumulation in the skin with edema.

Risk factors

Maternal hypothyroidism is reported as a risk factor for preterm birth. The literature also associates hypothyroidism with diabetes mellitus, obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's disease, but the grounding does not establish these as causal risk factors for developing hypothyroidism.

Current standard of care

The supplied literature supports thyroid hormone replacement as the main treatment category, specifically levothyroxine for subclinical hypothyroidism in some contexts. Thyrotropin, thyroxine, and triiodothyronine are the co-studied hormone-related agents, but the grounding does not support more specific treatment details.

AI-generated summary grounded in MeSH and 6 peer-reviewed sources. Informational only — not medical advice. Generated 2026-07-07.

Reference

Authoritative identity, definition & identifiers.

Defined in MeSH

A syndrome that results from abnormally low secretion of THYROID HORMONES from the THYROID GLAND, leading to a decrease in BASAL METABOLIC RATE. In its most severe form, there is accumulation of MUCOPOLYSACCHARIDES in the SKIN and EDEMA, known as MYXEDEMA. It may be primary or secondary due to other pituitary disease, or hypothalamic dysfunction.

References & data sources
  • Disease identity & definition — NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), public domain
  • Clinical trials — ClinicalTrials.gov (U.S. National Library of Medicine)
  • Research activity — Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI) + OpenAlex-derived paper links
  • Related entities are derived from literature co-mention (studied together) — associative, not causal.