Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Volume 25, Issue 6 , Pages 875-884 , December 2011

Endocrine disorders in pregnancy: Physiological and hormonal aspects of pregnancy

  • Ulla Feldt–Rasmussen, MD, DMSc (Professor)

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Department of Medical Endocrinology PE 2132, National University Hospital, Blegdamsvej 9, DK–2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. Tel.: +45 35452399; Fax: +45 35452240.
  • ,
  • Elisabeth R. Mathiesen, MD, DMSc (Professor)

References 

  1. Burney RO, Moony SB, Giudice LC. Endocrinology of pregnancy. 2008;www.Endotext.org[Chapter 13]
  2. Tulchinsky D, Hobel CJ. Plasma human chorionic gonadotropin, estrone, estradiol, estriol, progesterone, and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone in human pregnancy. 3. Early normal pregnancy. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. 1973;117:884–893
  3. Murphy BE. Cortisol and cortisone in human fetal development. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry. 1979;11:509–513
  4. Carr BR, MacDonald PC, Simpson ER. The role of lipoproteins in the regulation of progesterone secretion by the human corpus luteum. Fertility and Sterility. 1982;38:303–311
  5. Siiteri PK, Febres F, Clemens LE, et al. Progesterone and maintenance of pregnancy: is progesterone nature’s immunosuppressant?. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1977;286:384–397
  6. Partsch CJ, Sippell WG, MacKenzie IZ, et al. The steroid hormonal milieu of the undisturbed human fetus and mother at 16–20 weeks gestation. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1994;73:969–974
  7. Lindberg BS, Johansson ED, Nilsson BA. Plasma levels of nonconjugated oestrone, oestradiol-17beta and oestriol during uncomplicated pregnancy. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. 1974;21–36Suppl 32
  8. Gonzalez JG, Elizondo G, Saldivar D, et al. Pituitary gland growth during normal pregnancy: an in vivo study using magnetic resonance imaging. American Journal of Medicine. 1988;85:217–220
  9. Miki Y, Asato R, Okumura R, et al. Anterior pituitary gland in pregnancy: hyperintensity at MR. Radiology. 1993;187:229–231
  10. Goluboff LG, Ezrin C. Effect of pregnancy on the somatotroph and the prolactin cell of the human adenohypophysis. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1969;29:1533–1538
  11. Scheithauer BW, Sano T, Kovacs KT, et al. The pituitary gland in pregnancy: a clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical study of 69 cases. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 1990;65:461–474
  12. Frankenne F, Closset J, Gomez F, et al. The physiology of growth hormones (GHs) in pregnant women and partial characterization of the placental GH variant. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1988;66:1171–1180
  13. Eriksson L, Frankenne F, Eden S, et al. Growth hormone 24-h serum profiles during pregnancy—lack of pulsatility for the secretion of the placental variant. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 1989;106:949–953
  14. Stefaneanu L, Powell-Braxton L, Won W, et al. Somatotroph and lactotroph changes in the adenohypophyses of mice with disrupted insulin-like growth factor I gene. Endocrinology. 1999;140:3881–3889
  15. Elster AD, Sanders TG, Vines FS, et al. Size and shape of the pituitary gland during pregnancy and postpartum: measurement with MR imaging. Radiology. 1991;181:531–535
  16. Dinc H, Esen F, Demirici A, et al. Pituitary dimensions and volume measurements in pregnancy and post partum: MR assessment. Acta Radiologica. 1998;39:64–69
  17. Molitch M. The normal anterior pituitary during pregnancy. 2010;www.endotext.org[Chapter 2]
  18. Stalla GK, Bost H, Stalla J, et al. Human corticotrophin releasing hormone during pregnancy. Gynecological Endocrinology. 1989;3:1–9
  19. Rees LH, Burke CW, Chard T, et al. Possible placental origin of ACTH in normal human pregnancy. Nature. 1975;254:620–622
  20. Sasaki A, Shinkawa O, Yoshinaga K. Placental corticotrophin-releasing hormone may be a stimulator of maternal pituitary adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion in humans. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 1989;84:1997–2001
  21. Carr BR, Parker CR, Madden JE, et al. Maternal plasma adrenocorticotropin and cortisol relationships throughout human pregnancy. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. 1981;139:416–422
  22. Nolten WE, Lindheimer MD, Rueckert PA, et al. Diurnal patterns and regulation of cortisol secretion in pregnancy. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1980;51:466–472
  23. Lindsay JR, Nieman LK. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in pregnancy: challenges in disease detection and treatment. Endocrine Reviews. 2005;26:775–799
  24. Raymond J, LaFranchi SH. Fetal and neonatal thyroid function: review and summary of significant new findings. Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity. 2010;17:1–7
  25. Koopdonk-Kool JM, de Vijlder JJ, Veenboer GJ, et al. Type II and type III deiodinase activity in human placenta as a function of gestational age. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1996;81:2154–2158
  26. de Escobar GM, Obregon MJ, Del Rey FE. Maternal thyroid hormones early in pregnancy and fetal brain development. Best Practice & Research: Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2004;18:225–248
  27. Kilby MD, Barber K, Hobbs E, et al. Thyroid hormone action in the placenta. Placenta. 2005;26:105–113
  28. Henrichs J, Bongers-Schokking JJ, Schenk JJ, et al. Maternal thyroid function during early pregnancy and cognitive functioning in early childhood: the generation R study. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2010;95:4227–4234
  29. Boas M, Forman JL, Juul A, et al. Narrow intra-individual variation of maternal thyroid function in pregnancy based on a longitudinal study on 132 women. European Journal of Endocrinology. 2009;161:903–910
  30. Haddow JE, Knight GJ, Palomaki GE, et al. The reference range and within-person variability of thyroid stimulating hormone during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. Journal of Medical Screening. 2004;11:170–174
  31. Burrow GN, Fisher DA, Larsen PR. Maternal and fetal thyroid function. The New England Journal of Medicine. 1994;331:1072–1078
  32. Chan SY, Vasilopoulou E, Kilby MD. The role of the placenta in thyroid hormone delivery to the fetus. Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2009;5:45–54
  33. Hartoft-Nielsen M-L, Malene Boas, Sofie Bliddal, Åse Krogh Rasmussen, Katharina Main, Ulla Feldt-Rasmussen. Do thyroid disrupting chemicals influence foetal development during pregnancy? Journal of Thyroid Research, in press
  34. Rasmussen NG, Hornnes PJ, Hegedüs L& Feldt-Rasmussen U. Serum thyroglobulin during the menstrual cycle, during pregnancy, and post partum. Acta Endocrinologica (Copenhagen). 1989;121:168–173
  35. Feldt-Rasmussen U, Bliddal S, Rasmussen AK, et al. Challenges in interpretation of thyroid function tests in pregnant women with Autoimmune thyroid disease. Journal of Thyroid Research, in press
  36. National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry Guidelines for Laboratory Practice. www.nacb.org
  37. Feldt-Rasmussen U, Hyltoft PP, Blaabjerg O, et al. Long-term variability in serum thyroglobulin and thyroid related hormones in healthy subjects. Acta Endocrinologica (Copenhagen). 1980;95:328–334
  38. Johannison E. The foetal adrenal cortex in the human. Acta Endocrinologica. 1968;58(Suppl. 130):7
  39. Carr BR, MacDonald PC, Simpson ER. The regulation of de novo synthesis of cholesterol in the human fetal adrenal gland by low density lipoprotein and adrenocorticotropin. Endocrinology. 1980;107:1000–1006
  40. Carr BR, Porter JC, MacDonald PC, et al. Metabolism of low density lipoprotein by human fetal adrenal tissue. Endocrinology. 1980;107:1034–1040
  41. Parker CR, Carr BR, Winkel CA, et al. Hypercholesterolemia due to elevated low density lipoprotein-cholesterol in newborns with anencephaly and adrenal atrophy. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1983;57:37–43
  42. Simpson ER, Carr BR, Parker CR, et al. The role of serum lipoproteins in steroidogenesis by the human fetal adrenal cortex. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1979;49:146–148
  43. Winters AJ, Oliver C, Colston C, et al. Plasma ACTH levels in the human fetus and neonate as related to age and parturition. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1974;39:269–273
  44. Simpson ER, Parker CR, Carr BR. Role of lipoproteins in the regulation of steroidogenesis by the human fetal adrenal. In:  Jaffe RB,  Dell Acqua S editor. The endocrine physiology of pregnancy and the peripartal period. vol. 21:New York: Serono Symposia Publications. Raven Press; 1985;
  45. Baird A, Kan KW, Solomon S. Role of pro-opiomelanocortin-derived peptides in the regulation of steroid production by human fetal adrenal cells in culture. Journal of Endocrinology. 1983;97:357–367
  46. Bugnon C, Lenys D, Bloch B, et al. Cyto-immunologic study of early cell differentiation phenomena in the human fetal anterior pituitary gland. Comptes Rendus des Seances de la Societe de Biologie et de ses Filiales. 1974;168:460–465
  47. Walsh SW, Norman RL, Novy MJ. In utero regulation of rhesus monkey fetal adrenals: effects of dexamethasone, adrenocorticotropin, thyrotropin-releasing hormone, prolactin, human chorionic gonadotropin, and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone on fetal and maternal plasma steroids. Endocrinology. 1979;104:1805–1813
  48. Liggins GC. Endocrinology of the foeto-maternal unit. In:  Sherman RP editors. Human reproductive physiology. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications; 1972;
  49. Baggia S, Albrecht ED, Pepe GJ. Regulation of 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity in the baboon placenta by estrogen. Endocrinology. 1990;126:2742–2748
  50. Pepe GJ, Albrecht ED. Regulation of the primate fetal adrenal cortex. Endocrine Reviews. 1990;11:151–176
  51. Jost A. The fetal adrenal cortex. In:  Creep RO,  Astwood WB editor. Handbook of physiology. Washington, DC: Endocrinology Amer Physiol Soc; 1975;p. 426
  52. Kondo S. Developmental studies on the Japanese human adrenals, I: ponderal growth. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine. 1959;9:51
  53. Lain KY, Catalano PM. Factors that affects maternal insulin resistance and modify fetal growth and body composition. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders. 2006;4:p91–100
  54. Catalano PM, Huston L, Amini SB, et al. Longitudinal changes in glucose metabolism during pregnancy in obese women with normal glucose tolerance and gestational diabetes mellitus. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. 1999;1809:903–916
  55. Barbour LA, Shao J, Qiao L, et al. Human placenta growth hormone causes insulin severe resistance in transgenic mice. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2002;186:512–517
  56. Catalano PM, Haugel-De-Mouzon S. Is it time to revisit the Pedersen hypothesis in the face of the obesity epidemic. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2011;On line feb. 2011
  57. Spector DVS. Handbook of biological data. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 1956;
  58. Kovacs CS, Kronenberg HM. Maternal-fetal calcium and bone metabolism during pregnancy, puerperium and lactation. Endocrine Reviews. 1997;18:832–872
  59. Woodrow JP, Sharpe CJ, Fudge NJ, et al. Calcitonin plays a critical role in regulating skeletal mineral metabolism during lactation. Endocrinology. 2006;147:4010–4021
  60. Fudge NJ, Kovacs CS. Pregnancy upregulates intestinal calcium absorption and skeletal mineralization independently of the vitamin D receptor. Endocrinology. 2010;151:886–895
  61. Kovacs CS. Calcium metabolism during pregnancy and lactation. 2009;www.endotext.org[Chapter 3]

PII: S1521-690X(11)00080-7

doi: 10.1016/j.beem.2011.07.004

Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Volume 25, Issue 6 , Pages 875-884 , December 2011