Maternal autoimmunity and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Some of the most dangerous and costly complications of human pregnancy, including premature labor and preeclampsia/eclampsia, have remained unexplained. While not noted by the authors of a recently published study of three distinct groups of patients with thyroid disease, their data may offer new insights into the interplay between thyroid autoimmune disease, indeed possibly autoimmunity in general, and human pregnancy. This editorial discusses a report of 223,512 pregnancies (2002-2008) from a retrospective U.S. cohort, the Consortium of Safe Labor, reported by Männistö et al. from the Epidemiology Branch, Division of Epidemiology, Statistics and Prevention Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland in the July 2013 issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Reading between the lines of this publication offers potential insights into the etiologies of preeclampsia/eclampsia and of term as well as premature labor. Moreover, this study, unintentionally, may also offer insights into currently still only poorly understood immune dysfunction that links autoimmunity with adverse pregnancy outcomes.
The Center for Human Reproduction, New York, NY 10021, United States; Foundation for Reproductive Medicine, New York, NY 10021, United States. Electronic address: ngleicher@thechr.com.
Norbert
N
Gleicher
D000328:Adult; D015551:Autoimmunity; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus; D006801:Humans; D006980:Hyperthyroidism / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States
Autoimmunity; Hyperthyroidism; Hypothyroidism; Preeclampsia/eclampsia; Premature labor; Thyroid disease