Endocrine Abstracts

In the last few years studies have shown that subtle variations in thyroid function, including subclinical thyroid dysfunction, and even variation in thyroid function within the normal range, are associated with morbidity and mortality. It is estimated that 40–65% of the inter-individual variation in serum TSH and FT4 levels is determined by genetic factors. To identify these factors, various linkage and candidate gene studies have been performed in the past, which have i...

Context: Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide, affecting 2–8% of all pregnancies. We have previously shown that women with high-normal levels of FT4 during early pregnancy have a 2.1-fold increased risk of preeclampsia – but there was no apparent association with low TSH. However, the thyroid is stimulated by human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) during early pregnancy and therefore we hypothesized that women with h...

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: MCT8 deficiency is caused by loss-of-function (LoF) mutations in thyroid hormone (TH) transporter MCT8. Patients have developmental delay and abnormal thyroid function tests (TFTs). The large phenotypic variability is not understood. Moreover, phenotypes arising from LoF mutations could be employed to enhance understanding of physiology in the general population. Also, computational disease variant classifiers have poor predictive power to ascertain impact of MCT8 ...

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...

Background and Objective: Thyroid function reference ranges are statistically defined by the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles, which do not account for potential risk of clinical outcomes. We aimed to define the optimal ranges of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4), based on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality.Methods: We performed an individual-participant data analysis and identified prospecti...