Journal
HORMONE AND METABOLIC RESEARCH
Volume 37, Issue 10, Pages 633-640Publisher
GEORG THIEME VERLAG KG
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-870533
Keywords
intrauterine growth retardation; small for gestational age; thyroxin; thyronines; anemia; malnutrition
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Data on the effect of maternal malnutrition and/or anemia on thyroid hormone regulation in human fetuses are scarce, and would be of great importance in examining the relevance of Barker's hypothesis, which proposes adaptation of fetuses to undernutrition leading to permanent metabolic and endocrine changes that form the basis of adult diseases. To examine the quantitative variations in thyroid hormone profile of neonates born to malnourished and/or anemic mothers, we quantitated the T-3, T-4, rT(3) and TSH levels in cord blood of neonates and maternal blood of their corresponding mothers that are malnourished and/or anemic. Further, we classified neonates born to each of these groups of mothers into Small for Gestational Age (SGA) or Appropriate for Gestational Age (AGA) based on the intrauterine growth curve for our population, and examined the thyroid hormone profile in these neonates. Our results show that firstly, the effects of malnutrition or anemia on thyroid hormone profile are distinct, secondly, significantly higher levels of cord blood T-4 and correspondingly lower levels of T-3 and rT(3) are observed in the neonates born to anemic and malnourished mothers and thirdly, decreases in cord blood T-3 levels were observed in Small for Gestational Age neonates born to anemic mothers. These observations lead us to speculate that alterations in the pituitary-thyroid function result in beneficial adaptations to the hostile intrauterine environment in malnutrition related growth retardation and anemia.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available