ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Thyroid Endocrinology
A Study on the Correlation of Thyroid Nodules with METS-IR and SII in a Population Undergoing Health Checkups
Provisionally accepted
- Guangzhou Cadre and Talent Health Management Center, Guangzhou, China
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Objective To investigate the associations between thyroid nodules and two emerging biomarkers-Metabolic Score for Insulin Resistance (METS-IR) and Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index (SII)-in adults undergoing routine health checkups. Methods In this retrospective cross-sectional study, we analyzed data from 49,835 adults (65.50% male, 34.50% female) who underwent health checkups in 2023. Thyroid nodules were classified using the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) categories (2, 3, ≥4). Statistical analyses, including chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression, were used to evaluate the relationships between nodule prevalence, sex, age, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, METS-IR, and SII. Results Thyroid nodules were detected in 60.12% of the participants. The prevalence of TI-RADS 2, 3, and ≥4 nodules were 20.61%, 37.81%, and 1.69%, respectively. Nodule prevalence was significantly higher in women (70.07%) than in men (54.87%, P < 0.001). After multivariable adjustment, TI-RADS categories 2, 3, and ≥4 nodules were independently associated with female sex and increasing age (all P < 0.001). Notably, TI-RADS 2 and 3 nodules exhibited an inverse association with serum TSH levels (P < 0.001 for both), whereas TI-RADS 3 and ≥4 nodules showed positive associations with elevated METS-IR and SII values (P < 0.05 for all comparisons). Conclusion Thyroid nodules are highly prevalent, particularly among women and older individuals. Lower-grade nodules (TI-RADS 2 and 3) show an inverse correlation with TSH levels, whereas higher-grade nodules (TI-RADS 3 and ≥4) 2 are independently linked to increased insulin resistance (METS-IR) and systemic inflammation (SII). These findings suggest that METS-IR and SII could serve as valuable biomarkers for thyroid nodule assessment.
Keywords: health checkup, thyroid nodules, METS-IR, SII, Cross-Sectional Studies
Received: 14 Jul 2025; Accepted: 18 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Guan, Dai, Ye and Cai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
GuoKui Dai, 13660856256@163.com
Xiangsheng Cai, xiangshengcai@yeah.net
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