Childhood IQ, hearing loss, and maternal thyroid autoimmunity in the Baltimore Collaborative Perinatal Project.
BACKGROUND
Maternal thyroid autoantibodies during pregnancy have been implicated in neurodevelopmental delays, including early childhood cognitive deficits. We evaluated whether maternal autoantibodies to thyroid peroxidase (TPOaAbs) during late pregnancy were associated with childhood intelligence quotient (IQ) scores in their offspring and how the children's TPOaAb-associated sensorineural hearing loss (HL) might affect the result.


METHODS
We evaluated banked third-trimester sera corresponding to 1,733 children for whom childhood cognitive test scores and audiology data were available. The mothers and their children participated in the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP) that ran from 1959 to 1974.


RESULTS
A modest, statistically significant, effect of TPOaAbs on cognitive performance observed at 4 y of age lessened in both magnitude and P value by the age of 7 y. Children with sensorineural HL (SNHL) had lower IQ scores at both ages.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that the reported effect of maternal TPOaAbs on IQ may involve early developmental delays or transient effects rather than permanent deficits. Reports associating TPOaAbs directly with IQ may reflect a portion with unexamined TPOaAb-associated SNHL. Whether the TPOaAb-associated SNHL is in the neurodevelopmental pathway of later cognitive delays or is independently associated with IQ requires investigation in other studies.
Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Ellen E
EE
Wasserman
Joseph P
JP
Pillion
Anne
A
Duggan
Kenrad
K
Nelson
Charles
C
Rohde
Eric C
EC
Seaberg
Monica V
MV
Talor
Robert H
RH
Yolken
Noel R
NR
Rose
D000367:Age Factors; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology*; D015551:Autoimmunity; D015142:Baltimore / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007453:Iodide Peroxidase / Q000276:immunology*; D033862:Iron-Binding Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors
D001323:Autoantibodies; D001324:Autoantigens; D033862:Iron-Binding Proteins; C056658:TPO protein, human; D007453:Iodide Peroxidase