Purpose: A link between maternal thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy and the risk of cognitive and behavioral problems in the offspring has previously been established; however, the potential effects of maternal thyroid autoimmunity on neurodevelopment in the absence of maternal hypothyroidism are less clear. The present review aims to highlight the gaps in knowledge in this regard and provide a thorough assessment of relevant literature.
Method: Related keywords searched in MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus till January 2021.
Results: There is some evidence that neuropsychological and intellectual developments of offspring are adversely affected by maternal thyroid autoimmunity, although the results of available studies are not concordant. The tools and measurements that have been applied in different studies to assess neurodevelopment or IQ vary widely and the children born to mothers with thyroid autoimmunity have been assessed at different chronological stages of life. Such variations may explain some of the differences across studies. In addition, the definition of thyroid autoimmunity has been based on TPOAb cut points provided by manufacturers in most cases, but it is preferable to define these values based on age, trimester, and method-specific reference ranges.
Conclusion: Well-designed studies are needed to assess verbal and non-verbal neurocognition of offspring born to mothers with autoimmune thyroid disease before or during pregnancy.
Keywords: Autoimmunity; Cognitive ability; Offspring; Pregnancy; Thyroid.
© 2021. Italian Society of Endocrinology (SIE).