The prevalence of hypothyroidism in infertile women and its correlation with the pituitary gland hormones

Abstract

Infertility is defined as a condition in which a woman cannot conceive after 12 months of a normal sexual relationship without the use of contraception. The study aimed to evaluate hypothyroidism prevalence, thyroid and pituitary gland hormones assessment in infertile women's serum, and their correlation in Basra, Iraq. The research was conducted at Ibn-Gzouan Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynecology in Basra, southern Iraq, between October 2021 and March 2022. In our research, 28 infertile women with hypothyroidism, 30 infertile women without hypothyroidism, and 30 fertile women aged 18 to 45 were studied. Our research found that infertile hypothyroid women had greater TSH and PRL levels than fertile women, but lower T3 and T4 levels. Without hypothyroidism, infertile women exhibited greater PRL, cortisol, and LH levels than fertile women, but lower IGF-1 levels. T4 and T3 levels (r=0.640), LH, and LH/FSH ratio(r=0.536) correlated positively in hypothyroid infertile women. TSH and T4 levels (r = -0.514) and FSH and LH/FSH ratio (r =-0.481) correlated negatively. T4 and T3 levels, LH, and LH/FSH were positively correlated (r = 0.666) in infertile women without hypothyroidism. TSH was negatively correlated with T4 (r = -0.547) and T3 (r = -0.580).