title: Thyroid antibodies and gestational diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether thyroid antibodies are associated with an increased risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in pregnant women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Meta-analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Not applicable.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty cohort and case-control studies involving pregnant women with positive thyroid antibodies were the exposure of interest, and GDM was the outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  A fixed-effects model was used to evaluate the relationship between thyroid antibodies and the risk of GDM. Subgroup analyses were performed among different types of study design, different thyroid antibodies, and patients with specific thyroid dysfunction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The search strategy identified 167 potentially relevant publications, of which 20 were included in the meta-analysis. A significant association between thyroid antibodies and GDM was observed. A meta-analysis of the 11 cohort studies with pregnant women with positive thyroid antibodies in their first trimester suggested no obvious risk of GDM compared with the reference group. In subgroup meta-analyses, no significant association between thyroid antibodies and GDM was found in euthyroid pregnant women, whereas a significant positive association was identified in women with a thyroid dysfunction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on the currently available evidence, there is a significant but not strong association between thyroid antibodies and the risk of GDM, and thyroid antibodies in the first trimester lack predictive value for the risk of GDM. In addition, thyroid antibodies may not increase the risk of GDM in euthyroid pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: National Research Institute for Family Planning, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: National Research Institute for Family Planning, Beijing, People's Republic of China; Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Orthopaedics, Center of Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qianqian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Research Institute for Family Planning, Beijing, People's Republic of China; Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: maxutougao@163.com.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Thyroid; antibodies; autoimmunity; gestational diabetes mellitus