Maternal thyroglobulin and thyroid function during pregnancy and offspring neurodevelopment

Tessa Mulder; Monica Guxens; Sarah Bath; Mariana Dineva; Loibide Amaia Irizar; Nerea Lertxundi; Ruso Maria Luisa Rebagliato; Henning Tiemeier; Robin Peeters; Tim Korevaar

doi:10.1530/endoabs.99.RC6.3

RC6.3

Prev Next

Section Contents Cite

Endocrine Abstracts (2024) 99 RC6.3 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.99.RC6.3

ECE2024 Rapid Communications Rapid Communications 6: Thyroid | Part I (5 abstracts)

Maternal thyroglobulin and thyroid function during pregnancy and offspring neurodevelopment

Tessa Mulder ¹ , Mònica Guxens ² , Sarah Bath ³ , Mariana Dineva ³ , Amaia Irizar Loibide ⁴ , Nerea Lertxundi ⁴ , Maria Luisa Rebagliato Ruso ⁵ , Henning Tiemeier ^1,6 , Robin Peeters ¹ & Tim Korevaar ¹

Views

Author affiliations

¹Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands; ²ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; ³University Of Surrey, United Kingdom; ⁴Biodonostia Health Research Institute, San Sebastian, Spain; ⁵Jaume I University, Castelló de la Plana, Spain; ⁶Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, United States

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 concentrations, offspring IQ and brain morphology and if these associations differ by UIC.

Methods: We selected participants from two population-based prospective cohorts: Generation R (the Netherlands) and INfancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA; Spain) with available measurements of maternal Tg and thyroid function at 13 weeks of gestation (n=4,438 women) or at birth (n=2,082 mother-child pairs), early childhood IQ (n=2,984; age 4.5 and 6 years) or late childhood IQ (n=2,569; age 9 and 13 years), and offspring brain morphology at 10 years (n=1,197). The associations of Tg with TSH and FT4 concentrations, IQ and brain MRI outcomes were studied with multivariable linear regression.

Results: Higher maternal Tg was associated with lower TSH (P<0.001), higher FT4 (P<0.001) and lower IQ in early childhood (-0.06 point per 1 ng/ml Tg, P=0.02). Tg was not associated with cord blood TSH or FT4, late childhood IQ or brain morphology. We found no clear evidence of effect modification by UIC.

Conclusions: Tg is associated with thyroid function during pregnancy and some markers of offspring neurodevelopment. However, further research should determine the added value of Tg in addition to UIC for defining iodine status.