Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2009) 20 P549

ECE2009 Poster Presentations Neuroendocrinology, Pituitary and Behaviour (74 abstracts)

High TSH levels in healthy pregnant women are related to a decrease in motor development of their children at 14 months of age

Mar Alvarez 1, , Jordi Júlvez 1 , Mònica Guxens 1, , Àgueda Rodriguez 3 , Rosa Martorell 4 , Mercedes Espada 5 & Jordi Sunyer 1,


1Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology, Barcelona, Spain; 2CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain; 3Hospital Parc Taulí, Sabadell, Spain; 4Hospital de Terrassa, Terrassa, Spain; 5Laboratorio Normativo de Salud Pública, Biblao, Spain; 6Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM-Hospital del Mar), Barcelona, Spain.


Objectives: The fetus is dependent on maternal thyroid hormones during pregnancy and an adequate thyroid function during pregnancy is essential for the normal brain development. The effects of subclinical hypothyroidism during pregnancy are poorly known. The present study assesses the association between thyroid hormones and thyrotropin in healthy pregnant women from the general population, and the neurodevelopment of their children at the age of 14 months.

Methods: A total of 555 pregnant women were recruited in Sabadell (Spain) and levels of thyroid hormones (free thyroxine (free T4) and total triiodothyronine (total T3)) and thyrotropin (TSH) in serum were measured at first trimester of pregnancy. Those women with thyroid pathology were excluded from the analysis. Mental and motor development of their children were assessed using Bayley Scales of infant development at 14 months of age. We used multivariate regression adjusted for potential confounders to evaluate the association between TH and TSH, and the neurodevelopment of the children.

Results: TSH levels at first trimester of pregnancy were negatively associated with psychomotor developmental indice (PDI) (adjusted-coefficient: −1.05 P value=0.038) of their children at 14 months of age. No association was found between free T4, total T3 and TSH and mental developmental indice (MDI).

Conclusions: High TSH levels in healthy pregnant women from the general population have an adverse effect on motor development at 14 months of age. There is a need to establish thyroid hormones and TSH reference ranges during pregnancy in relation to developmental outcomes of the children.

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