title: MECHANISMS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY: Neurodevelopmental disorders in children born to mothers with thyroid dysfunction: evidence of fetal programming?
abstract: Fetal programming is a long-standing, but still evolving, concept that links exposures during pregnancy to the later development of disease in the offspring. A fetal programming effect has been considered within different endocrine axes and in relation to different maternal endocrine diseases. In this critical review, we describe and discuss the hypothesis of fetal programming by maternal thyroid dysfunction in the context of fetal brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders in the offspring. Thyroid hormones are important regulators of early brain development, and evidence from experimental and observational human studies have demonstrated structural and functional abnormalities in the brain caused by the lack or excess of thyroid hormone during fetal brain development. The hypothesis that such abnormalities introduced during early fetal brain development increase susceptibility for the later onset of neurodevelopmental disorders in the offspring is biologically plausible. However, epidemiological studies on the association between maternal thyroid dysfunction and long-term child outcomes are observational in design, and are challenged by important methodological aspects.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Endocrinology.|Clinical Biochemistry.
authors.forename: Stine Linding
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.affiliation: Departments of Endocrinology.
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carlé
authors.affiliation: Departments of Endocrinology.
authors.forename: Jesper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Karmisholt
authors.affiliation: Departments of Endocrinology.
authors.forename: Inge Bülow
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.affiliation: GeriatricsAalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.|Department Clinical MedicineAalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Stig
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andersen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009035:Mothers; D065886:Neurodevelopmental Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000150:complications*