Association between gestational blood lipids and TSH levels and pregnancy outcome of patients with subclinical hypothyroidism

Jiajia Zhang; Hao Chen; Xiaobing Dou; Wei Huang; Haixia Zeng

doi:10.12669/pjms.39.3.7150

Association between gestational blood lipids and TSH levels and pregnancy outcome of patients with subclinical hypothyroidism

Pak J Med Sci. 2023 May-Jun;39(3):721-725. doi: 10.12669/pjms.39.3.7150.

Authors

Jiajia Zhang¹, Hao Chen², Xiaobing Dou³, Wei Huang⁴, Haixia Zeng⁵

Affiliations

¹ Jiajia Zhang Department of Obstetrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China.
² Hao Chen Department of Thyroid Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China.
³ Xiaobing Dou Department of Pediatric Internal Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China.
⁴ Wei Huang Department of Obstetrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China.
⁵ Haixia Zeng Department of Obstetrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association between gestational blood lipids and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and pregnancy outcomes of patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH).

Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we analyzed the clinical data of 82 patients (case group) with gestational SCH treated in our hospital from January 2021 to January 2022 at gestational weeks 25-33 and grouped them according to whether SCH was well controlled by treatment (case Group-A: well controlled, n=55; case Group-B: poorly controlled, n=27), and the clinical data of 41 pregnant women (control group) undergoing physical examination during the same period. After comparing the blood lipids and TSH levels of the three groups, we compared their adverse pregnancy outcomes to assess the possible correlations between blood lipids and TSH levels and pregnancy outcomes.

Results: The levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and TSH in the case Group-B were significantly higher than those in the case Group-A and the control group (P<0.05). Compared with case Group-B and the control group, the incidence of premature delivery, abortion and neonatal growth restriction was higher in case Group-A (P<0.05). Among 82 patients in the case group 42 presented adverse pregnancy outcomes. The levels of TC, TG, LDL-C and TSH in mothers and infants in the adverse outcome group were significantly higher than those in the favorable outcome group (P<0.05). Our Pearson analysis results showed that the levels of TC, TG and LDL-C were positively correlated with the TSH levels and the pregnancy outcomes, and that TSH was positively correlated with pregnancy outcomes (P<0.05).

Conclusion: The levels of TC, TG, LDL-C and TSH in patients with poorly controlled SCH were increased during pregnancy, and were associated with the pregnancy outcomes and positively correlated with each other.

Keywords: Blood lipids; Pregnancy; Pregnancy outcome; Subclinical hypothyroidism; Thyroid stimulating hormone.