2016
Maternal and birth characteristics are determinants of offspring thyroid function
Publication
Publication
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism , Volume 101 - Issue 1 p. 206- 213
Background: Intrauterine adaptation to the outside environment is an important mechanism via
which the fetus increases its chance to thrive after birth. Therefore, various maternal-, pregnancy-,
and labor-related factors are potential determinants of thyroid function of the offspring. Animal
studies suggest that very high maternal thyroid hormone levels during pregnancy can alter the
development of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis set point of the child. However, to what
extent maternal and birth characteristics (including maternal thyroid function, smoking, and birth
weight) are associated with thyroid function of the offspring is currently unknown.
Methods: We selected 4273 mother-child pairs from a large population-based prospective cohort with
dataavailableonmaternalgestationalTSHandfreeT4 (FT4) levelsandnewbornTSHandFT4(n = 3339;
at birth) or childhood TSH and FT4 (n = 2523; median age, 6 y). We used multivariable (non)linear
regression models to study the association of potential determinants (including maternal TSH, FT4,
thyroid peroxidase antibodies, iodine excretion, age, body mass index, smoking status, parity, preeclampsia,
fetal distress, gestational age at birth, birth weight,modeof delivery, and thyroid functionassociated
single nucleotide polymorphisms) with newborn and childhood TSH and FT4.
Results: There was a strong association of maternal TSH and FT4 levels during pregnancy with
newborn and childhood TSH and FT4 levels, respectively (for both, P < .0001). Maternal FT4 was
also associated with newborn TSH levels (P = .0009). Birth weight, fetal distress, gestational age
at birth and maternal parity were all associated with newborn TSH and/or FT4 (P < .0001), but these
associations did not persist into childhood. Genetic risk scores for TSH and FT4 were strongly
associated with newborn and childhood thyroid function (P ≤ .0005). The association between
maternal and offspring thyroid function did not change after correction for genetic risk scores.
Conclusions: In this study, childhood thyroid function was predominantly determined by maternal
TSH or FT4 levels and thyroid-specific single nucleotide polymorphisms. Effects of stress-related
changes in thyroid function at birth were transient. Other potential factors were not associated
with offspring thyroid function.
Additional Metadata | |
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doi.org/10.1210/jc.2015-3559, hdl.handle.net/1765/90764 | |
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism | |
Organisation | Generation R Study Group |
Korevaar, T., Chaker, L., Jaddoe, V., Visser, T., Medici, M., & Peeters, R. (2016). Maternal and birth characteristics are determinants of offspring thyroid function. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 101(1), 206–213. doi:10.1210/jc.2015-3559 |