Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Thyroid hormone is an important regulator of fetal brain development. Low and high maternal free thyroxine concentrations during pregnancy have been associated with less grey matter and cortex volume. However, it remains unknown whether certain areas of the brain are differently affected. We used state-of-the-art brain MRI analyses in the largest mother-offspring imaging cohort worldwide to further elucidate how maternal thyroid function during early pregnancy affe...

Context: High maternal TSH and/or low FT4 during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of premature delivery. hCG is the main determinant of thyroid function changes during pregnancy but has a versatile pattern with high inter and intra-individual variability. We hypothesised that the correct interpretation of thyroid function tests and its use in the risk assessment of premature delivery during pregnancy depend on hCG levels.Design, ...

Background: Maternal thyroid hormones regulate neurodevelopment of the fetus. Maternal thyroid dysfunction has been associated with lower offspring IQ and alterations in brain morphology in early childhood, but it remains unknown if these associations persist as development progresses.Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study including participants from an ongoing birth cohort in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with data on gestational thyroid functio...

Background: Low maternal urinary iodine concentration (UIC) during pregnancy has been associated with lower child IQ and differences in brain morphology. However, UIC is highly variable as it is a reflection of 24-h urinary intake rather than long-term iodine status. Thyroglobulin (Tg) might be a more sensitive biomarker of the long-term maternal iodine status.Aim: To study whether maternal Tg is associated with maternal and newborn thyroid hormone conce...

Introduction: Adequate thyroid hormone availability during early life is crucial for normal child growth and development. Fetal growth in utero heavily depends on angiogenesis. Placental growth factor (PlGF) is a proangiogenic factor sharing high homology with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) whereas soluble FMS-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt1) is a potent antagonist of VEGF and PlGF signaling. Since the thyroid is a highly vascularized organ, we hypothesized t...