Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Maternal cortisol levels increase during pregnancy and prenatal cortisol exposure have been linked to cognitive function in childhood. Higher activity of the enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid-dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD2) downregulates the amount of maternal cortisol crossing the placenta by inactivation of cortisol to cortisone. In childhood, boys perform significantly poorer in tests of intelligence than girls.Aim: To investigate associ...

Background: Language development during early childhood is considered an important marker of fetal neurodevelopment. Prenatal cortisol exposure plays a critical role in maturation of the fetal brain; however, the effect on offspring language development needs further investigation. This study aimed to evaluate the association between maternal 3rd trimester cortisol and early longitudinal offspring language development and to test whether there was sex differences in...

Introduction: Maternal thyroid function in early pregnancy is crucial for fetal neural development. Early offspring language acquisition is an important indicator of fetal neural development and a predictor of future cognitive development. We aimed to investigate how the mother’s thyroid function and the presence of thyroid autoimmunity in early pregnancy are associated with offspring’s language acquisition at the age of 12-37 months.Methods: T...