Maternal smoking and high BMI disrupt thyroid gland development.

Panagiotis FilisSabine Hombach-KlonischPierre AyotteNalin NagrathUgo SoffientiniThomas KlonischPeter O'ShaughnessyPaul A Fowler

Published in: BMC medicine (2018)

For the first time, we show that maternal smoking and high maternal BMI are associated with disturbed fetal thyroid gland development and endocrine function in a sex-specific manner during the second trimester. These findings suggest that predisposition to post-natal disease is mediated, in part, by altered fetal thyroid gland development.

Keyphrases

pregnancy outcomes
birth weight
body mass index
smoking cessation
south africa
gestational age
preterm birth