Endocrine Abstracts

The transplacental passage of thyroid hormones (TH) from the maternal to fetal circulations is important for normal fetal development, particularly the fetal central nervous system. This is particularly so before the onset of endogenous fetal TH production from the second trimester of pregnancy. The human hemochorial placenta regulates the quantity of TH passing through and the complement of the different forms of TH to ensure requisite levels are present in the fetus for each...

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The importance of thyroid hormones in neurological development has been well documented in both animals and humans. Thyroid hormones deficit during fetal development can have irreversible adverse effects on an individual’s neurological function; including mental retardation, deafness, and spasticity. The only source of thyroid hormones for the developing brain in early pregnancy is from the mother. There is a growing body of epidemiological and experimental evidence to su...