Štefan Sotak, Ivica Lazúrová
Diabetes mellitus type 2 and thyreopathies are the two most common diseases in clinical practice, which are suffered by hundred million people around the world. It seems that between both diseases there exists a relationship, which is conditioned by severe factors, but many of them are still not equally researched. Hyperthyroidism increases serum glucose levels, but its treatment minimally affects glucose levels. Hypothyroidism is often associated with insulin resistance; subclinical hypothyroidism is a recognized risk factor for the metabolic syndrome. The relationship between autoimmune thyroiditis and diabetes mellitus 2 is not completely researched at the present time, but some studies demonstrated higher prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis in patients with the metabolic syndrome. Genetic background of the relationship between diabetes type 2 and thyroid diseases is investigated intensively, especially polymorphisms of deiodinase II and PPARγ2, in last years.