title: Thyroid hormones and autoantibodies in pregnant patients with thyroid diseases.
abstract: Serum concentrations of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroid autoantibodies in pregnant patients with thyroid disease at various stages of pregnancy were determined by in-house ELISAs. In normal pregnancy, serum TSH levels were significantly elevated (p < 0.05) from 13 weeks of gestation. The normal reference ranges for TSH for the second (0.6-5.0 mIU/l) and third trimester (0.6-5.6 mIU/l) were significantly higher (p < 0.05; p < 0.01 respectively) compared to 0.4-4.5 mIU/l for the first trimester. In pregnant thyroid patients, serum TSH levels correlated highly (p < 0.001) to T4 (r = 0.740), FT4I (r = 0.683) and MicAb (microsomal antibodies) (r = 0.825) but weaker (p < 0.01) to T3 (r = -0.512), FT3I (r = 0.520) and TgAb (thyroglobulin antibodies) (r = 0.618). Thus, measurement of TSH with the highly sensitive ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) would form a useful first line test for thyroid dysfunction in pregnancy while measurement of thyroid autoantibodies would aid in the diagnosis of autoimmune hypothyroidism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Goh
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Roslan
authors.forename: T T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: B N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Nasri
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Khalid
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D012016:Reference Values; D012846:Singapore; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000276:immunology*; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000097:blood; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D013963:Thyroid Hormones; C006606:anti-thyroglobulin; C056626:thyroid microsomal antibodies; D014284:Triiodothyronine; D013972:Thyrotropin; D013974:Thyroxine