Journal of Thyroid Disorders & Therapy
Open Access
ISSN: 2167-7948
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2167-7948
+44 1300 500008
Andrea Weghofer
Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Thyroid Disorders Ther
Background: Thyroid dysfunction is the most common autoimmune endocrine disorder in women of reproductive years and has been associated with infertility. As hypoThyroidism is associated with menstrual irregularities and anovulation; one can hypothesize that thyroxin may affect follicular growth and development. Assuming such a possibility, TSH levels should influence follicular recruitment, reflected by Anti Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels. Recent animal studies support such an assumption by demonstrating accelerated growth and reduced apoptosis of pre-antral follicles with thyroxin co-culture within physiological ranges. To investigate whether Thyroid function also influences follicular recruitment in humans, the impact of Thyroid function on AMH concentrations in euThyroid infertility patients was investigated. Methods: This study retrospectively investigated 225 infertile women who underwent work up for fertility treatment at the Center for Human Reproduction in New York City. As part of routine pre-IVF evaluations, AMH, TSH and Thyroid antibodies were assessed. Only women with normal TSH levels (i.e., TSH 0.4-4.5�?¼IU/mL) were eligible for enrollment. Thyroid function was divided into lownormal and high-normal TSH levels with a cut-off of 3.0�?¼IU/mL. Results: Mean age of the patients was 38.4�?±5.0 years. Mean AMH levels were 1.3�?±2.0 ng/mL, mean TSH levels were 1.8�?±0.9 �?¼IU/mL. Thyroid autoimmunity was present in 11.1% of all patients. Women with TSH <3�?¼IU/mL presented with significantly higher AMH levels compared to their counterparts with TSH levels â�?¥3�?¼IU/mL (P=0.03). Those findings remained significant when the analysis was adjusted for Thyroid autoimmunity (P=0.02). Conclusions: TSH levels <3�?¼IU/mL in euThyroid infertility patients appear associated with significantly higher AMH levels than in women with high-normal TSH, suggesting a beneficial effect of lower TSH levels on follicular recruitment. It now remains to be determined whether thyroxin supplementation may enhance follicular recruitment in women with high-normal baseline TSH levels.