Objective: To analyze the long-term impact of birth weight (BW) on thyroid function in genetically identical twins with intra-twin BW differences from birth to adolescence.
Study design: In total, 52 monozygotic twin pairs underwent at least one analysis of thyroid function at mean ages of 10.1 years (27 pairs), 15.1 years (35 pairs), and 17.4 years (36 pairs); 18 pairs donated blood at all time points. BW difference of <1 SDS was defined as concordant, BW difference ≥1 SDS as discordant.
Results: In concordant twins, no significant differences were observed. In the discordant group, smaller twins had higher mean thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) than their larger co-twins at 10.1 years (3.6 vs 2.5 μU/mL; P = .04) and 15.1 years (2.6 vs 2.2 μU/mL; P = .08). Smaller twins showed lower mean thyroxine than larger co-twins at 10.1 years (7.8 vs 8.2 μg/dL P = .05) and 17.4 years (7.7 vs 8.4 μg/dL; P = .03), and a tendency at 15.1 years (6.9 vs 7.4 μg/dL; P = .09). Calculation of TSH-thyroxine ratio revealed significant differences in the discordant group, with greater ratios in the smaller twin at 10.1 years (0.5 vs 0.3; P = .006) and 15.1 years (0.4 vs 0.3; P = .04).
Conclusions: In this group of monozygotic twins with intra-twin BW differences, BW seemed to exert a long-lasting impact on thyroid function. This may be due to a delay in hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis maturation, with TSH resistance during childhood and early adolescence in children with low BW.
Keywords: birth weight; fetal programming; thyroid.
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