Abstract
Maternal thyroid hormones facilitate optimal foetal neurodevelopment; however, the exact role of the thyroid hormones on specific cognitive outcomes is unknown. The present study aimed to investigate associations between maternal thyroid function and neurodevelopmental outcomes in the Seychelles Child Development Study (SCDS) Nutrition 2 cohort (n 1328). Maternal free thyroid hormones (fT3, fT4 and fTSH) were assessed at 28 weeks' gestation with a range of child cognitive outcomes analysed at 20 months. Dietary iodine intake was analysed for a subset of women through a Food Frequency Questionnaire. Linear regression analysis was used to test associations between serum concentrations of maternal thyroid hormones and child neurodevelopment outcomes. Thyroid hormones were analysed as continuous data and categorised as quintiles. 95% of mothers had optimal thyroid function based on fTSH concentrations. Overall, the present study shows that maternal thyroid function is not associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes in this high fish-eating population. However, a positive association, using quintiles for fT3, was reported for the Mental Developmental Index, between Q3 v. Q4 (β 0⋅073; P 0⋅043) and for Q3 v. Q5 (β value 0⋅086; P 0⋅018). To conclude, mothers in our cohort, who largely have optimal thyroid function and iodine intakes, appear able to regulate thyroid function throughout pregnancy to meet neurodevelopmental needs. However, it is possible that minor imbalances of fT3, as indicated from our secondary analysis, may impact offspring neurodevelopment. Further investigation of the relationship between maternal thyroid function and infant neurodevelopment is warranted, particularly in populations with different dietary patterns and thereby iodine intakes.
Highlights
Iodine is an essential micronutrient required for the production of the thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), which are necessary throughout pregnancy for adequate foetal neurodevelopment[1]
Demand is further exacerbated by the immaturity of the foetal thyroid gland and this changes during mid-gestation, dependency upon maternal iodine stores remains owing to the rapid transfer of iodide across the placenta in tandem with the high foetal thyroidal turnover[1,4,5,6]
We found no association between maternal thyroid function during pregnancy and children’s neurodevelopmental outcomes at 20 months in the Seychelles Child Development Study (SCDS)
Summary
Iodine is an essential micronutrient required for the production of the thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), which are necessary throughout pregnancy for adequate foetal neurodevelopment[1]. Iodine deficiency during pregnancy is defined as urinary iodine concentrations (UIC) of
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