Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb 5:11:611071.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2020.611071. eCollection 2020.

Associations Between Maternal Thyroid Function and Birth Outcomes in Chinese Mother-Child Dyads: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Geng-Dong Chen  1   2 , Ting-Ting Pang  3 , Xia-Fen Lu  4 , Peng-Sheng Li  1 , Zi-Xing Zhou  1 , Shao-Xin Ye  1 , Jie Yang  4 , Xiu-Yin Shen  1 , Dong-Xin Lin  1 , Da-Zhi Fan  1 , De-Mei Lu  4 , Zheng-Ping Liu  1
Affiliations

Associations Between Maternal Thyroid Function and Birth Outcomes in Chinese Mother-Child Dyads: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Geng-Dong Chen et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Objective: Although research suggests a close association between maternal thyroid function and birth outcomes, no clear conclusion has been reached. We aimed to explore this potential association in a retrospective cohort study.

Methods: This study included 8985 mother-child dyads. The maternal serum free tetraiodothyronine (FT4), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO Ab) concentrations and birth outcome data were reviewed from medical records. Subjects with TPO Ab concentrations of >34 and ≤34 IU/ml were classified into the TPO Ab positivity (+) and TPO Ab negativity (-) groups, respectively.

Results: Compared with subjects in the normal group (0.1 ≤ TSH < 2.5 mIU/L and TPO Ab-), those with TSH concentrations of 2.5-4.0 mIU/L and TPO Ab- had a 0.65-fold lower risk of low birth weight (LBW). In contrast, those with TSH concentrations of >4.0 mIU/L, regardless of the TPO Ab status, had a 2.01-fold increased risk of LBW. Subclinical hypothyroidism, regardless of the TPO Ab status, was associated with a 1.94-fold higher risk of LBW when compared with that in subjects with euthyroidism and TPO Ab-. No other significant associations were observed.

Conclusion: A maternal TSH concentration of 2.5-4.0 mIU/L was associated with a lower risk of LBW when combined with TPO Ab-, whereas subjects with a TSH concentration of >4.0 mIU/L had an increased risk of LBW. Subclinical hypothyroidism appears to be associated with a higher risk of LBW.

Keywords: birth outcome; free tetraiodothyronine; thyroid function; thyroid peroxidase antibody; thyroid-stimulating hormone.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of study participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lillevang-Johansen M, Abrahamsen B, Jørgensen HL, Brix TH, Hegedüs L. Duration of over- and under-treatment of hypothyroidism is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Eur J Endocrinol (2019) 180(6):407–16. 10.1530/eje-19-0006 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Moon S, Kim MJ, Yu JM, Yoo HJ, Park YJ. Subclinical Hypothyroidism and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies. Thyroid (2018) 28(9):1101–10. 10.1089/thy.2017.0414 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bano A, Dhana K, Chaker L, Kavousi M, Ikram MA, Mattace-Raso FUS, et al. Association of Thyroid Function With Life Expectancy With and Without Cardiovascular Disease: The Rotterdam Study. JAMA Intern Med (2017) 177(11):1650–7. 10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.4836 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chaker L, Ligthart S, Korevaar TI, Hofman A, Franco OH, Peeters RP, et al. Thyroid function and risk of type 2 diabetes: a population-based prospective cohort study. BMC Med (2016) 14(1):150. 10.1186/s12916-016-0693-4 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jun JE, Jin SM, Jee JH, Bae JC, Hur KY, Lee MK, et al. TSH increment and the risk of incident type 2 diabetes mellitus in euthyroid subjects. Endocrine (2017) 55(3):944–53. 10.1007/s12020-016-1221-1 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources