Comparison of thyroid function in pregnant and non-pregnant Asian and western Caucasian women
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Sukumar Barik; Simon Heller; Sue Rutter; Ian Catch; Anthony P. Weetman; Owen Obel; Janet Cresswell; A. Price
- Source
- Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry. 308(1-2)
- Subject
- endocrine system
medicine.medical_specialty
Thyroid Hormones
medicine.drug_class
Clinical Biochemistry
Thyroid Gland
Physiology
Thyrotropin
Thyroid Function Tests
Biochemistry
Thyroid function tests
Chorionic Gonadotropin
Bone and Bones
White People
Asian People
Pregnancy
Reference Values
Internal medicine
Vitamin D and neurology
Confidence Intervals
Medicine
Humans
medicine.diagnostic_test
biology
business.industry
Biochemistry (medical)
Thyroid
General Medicine
medicine.disease
Alkaline Phosphatase
Ferritin
Pregnancy Trimester, First
Thyroxine
medicine.anatomical_structure
Endocrinology
Pregnancy Trimester, Second
Ferritins
biology.protein
Gestation
Female
Gonadotropin
Thyroid function
business
- Language
- ISSN
- 0009-8981
Background: Gestational thyrotoxicosis may be more prevalent in Asian women. Methods: We have measured thyroid function, ferritin and bone specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) as peripheral markers of thyroid function and hCG in Asian and western Caucasian women in non-pregnant and early pregnancy. Results: TSH was lower in Asian women in non-pregnancy but not during normal pregnancy and this may reflect increased sensitivity of the thyroid gland to thyroid stimulation in the Asian population. No ethnic difference was found in FT3, FT4 or hCG but ferritin was lower and BALP higher in Asian women whether pregnant or not and this may be a reflection of iron balance and vitamin D status. Conclusions: We found during normal pregnancy that dynamic patterns of change for thyroid hormones and hCG are not different in Asian and western Caucasian women. We have developed gestation related reference intervals, which are a pre-requisite to the study of ethnic differences in gestation thyrotoxicosis in pregnancy.