Research Article
Correlation between Maternal Vitamin D and Thyroid
Function in Pregnancy with Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes:
A Cross-Sectional Study
Salma Ahi ,
1
Mohsen Adelpour,
1
Iman Fereydooni,
2
and Naser Hatami
2
1
Research Center for Noncommunicable Diseases, Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Jahrom, Iran
2
Student Research Committee, Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Jahrom, Iran
Correspondence should be addressed to Salma Ahi; salmaahi.61@gmail.com
Received 24 August 2021; Revised 2 January 2022; Accepted 6 January 2022; Published 29 January 2022
Academic Editor: Flavia Prodam
Copyright © 2022 Salma Ahi et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Background. e aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women to investigate the
relationship between vitamin D level and thyroid function. Methods. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, a total number of 66
patients during the three trimesters of pregnancy were investigated; 22 pregnant women were studied in each trimester of
pregnancy. We evaluated thyroid function tests and thyroid autoantibodies (TPOAb and TGAb), as well as the serum level of
25OHD, to determine the relationship between vitamin D level and autoimmune or non-autoimmune thyroid disease in
pregnancy. Results. Pearson’s correlation in all subjects showed that vitamin D levels did not have a significant relationship with
maternal age. Only in the third trimester, there was a significant difference in maternal age based on their vitamin D status. ere
was no significant difference between the trimesters of pregnancy and vitamin D status (P > 0.05). Also, there were no significant
differences between serum levels of vitamin D within three trimesters. Examination of thyroid function tests during pregnancy in
relation to vitamin D showed that there was no significant Spearman’s correlation between thyroid function status and serum
vitamin D level (P > 0.05). ere was no significant difference in the mean level of serum 25OH vitamin D in each subgroup of
thyroid status (P > 0.05). Regarding the pregnancy outcomes, two newborns were admitted to NICU, meconium aspiration was in
one case, and IUFD in another case led to pregnancy termination. ese four cases were related to the maternal history of
hypothyroidism. Conclusion. ere was no significant relationship between vitamin D and pregnancy trimester. e serum level of
vitamin D had no particular effect on the outcome of pregnancy and the thyroid gland function.
1. Background
Hormonal and multiple metabolic changes during preg-
nancy lead to complex effects on the maternal thyroid
function [1]. Pregnancy increases stimulation and synthesis
of steroid hormones, and it also increases the thyroxine-
binding globulin’s (TBG) degradation, TBG levels, total T3,
and total T4. Studies have shown that TBG levels double in
the 16th–20th week of pregnancy [1]. e level of thyroxin
(T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) is regulated by TSH secreted
from the pituitary [2, 3]. A large percentage of thyroid
hormones in the bloodstream (more than 99%) are bound to
the carrier proteins. Most of the thyroid hormones are
transmitted by TBG and a lesser extent by transthyretin and
albumin. Binding with these proteins prevents the hormone
from entering the cell and provides its effect. [4]. So, thyroid
disease is the second most common endocrine disorder
affecting women of childbearing age [5, 6]. Recently, the
evaluations of thyroid function showed that thyroid function
tests interpretation depends on the stage of pregnancy [7].
Multiple hormonal and metabolic changes during each
pregnancy trimester lead to complex effects on the mother’s
thyroid function [8]. ere is a high prevalence of thyroid
diseases in women of reproductive age, including chronic
Hindawi
International Journal of Endocrinology
Volume 2022, Article ID 6295775, 7 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/6295775