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. 2022 Jun 29:13:884851.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.884851. eCollection 2022.

Association of Maternal Mild Hypothyroidism With Offspring Neurodevelopment in TPOAb-Negative Women: A Prospective Cohort Study

Qingru Wang  1 , Yangqian Jiang  1   2 , Hong Lv  1   2   3 , Qun Lu  1   2 , Shiyao Tao  1   2 , Rui Qin  1   2 , Lei Huang  1   2 , Cong Liu  1   2 , Xin Xu  1   2 , Siyuan Lv  1   4 , Mei Li  1   5 , Zhi Li  1   5 , Jiangbo Du  1   2   3 , Yuan Lin  1   3   6 , Hongxia Ma  1   2   3 , Xia Chi  7 , Zhibin Hu  1   2   3 , Tao Jiang  8 , Guoying Zhang  1   9
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Association of Maternal Mild Hypothyroidism With Offspring Neurodevelopment in TPOAb-Negative Women: A Prospective Cohort Study

Qingru Wang et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Objectives: Adequate maternal thyroid hormone availability is crucial for fetal neurodevelopment, but the role of maternal mild hypothyroidism is not clear. We aim to investigate the association of maternal mild hypothyroidism with neurodevelopment in infants at 1 year of age among TPOAb-negative women.

Methods: The present study was conducted within the Jiangsu Birth Cohort. A total of 793 mother-infant pairs were eligible for the present study. Maternal thyroid function was assessed by measuring serum thyroid-stimulating hormone, free thyroxine, and thyroid peroxidase antibodies. Neurodevelopment of infants was assessed by using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development third edition screening test (Bayley-III screening test).

Results: In the multivariate adjusted linear regression analyses, infants of women with subclinical hypothyroidism and isolated hypothyroxinemia were associated with decreased receptive communication scores (β = -0.68, p = 0.034) and decreased gross motor scores (β = -0.83, p = 0.008), respectively. Moreover, infants of women with high-normal TSH concentrations (3.0-4.0 mIU/L) and low FT4 concentrations were significantly associated with lower gross motor scores (β = -1.19, p = 0.032), while no differences were observed in infants when the mothers had a high-normal TSH concentration and normal FT4 levels.

Conclusions: Maternal subclinical hypothyroidism is associated with decreased receptive communication scores in infants at 1 year of age. In addition, maternal TSH concentration greater than 4.0 mIU/L and maternal isolated hypothyroxinemia are associated with impaired gross motor ability of infants, especially in infants of women with high-normal TSH concentrations (3.0-4.0 mIU/L).

Keywords: cohort study; infancy; neurodevelopment; pregnancy; thyroid hypofunction.

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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
Thyroid function grouped on different TSH thresholds. ET, euthyroidism; SCH, subclinical hypothyroidism; OH, overt hypothyroidism; IH, isolated hypothyroxinemia. aTSH thresholds at 3.0 mIU/L (2011 ATA guidelines). bTSH thresholds at 4.0 mIU/L (2017 ATA guidelines).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flowchart of participants through the study. TSH, thyroid-stimulating hormone; FT4, free thyroxine.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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