A Study On The Association Between Exposure To Hunger And Thyroid Function In Adults After Early Life

Background and aims: The "Fetal Origins of Adults Disease(FOAD)" hypothesis states that fetal malnutrition during intrauterine life is closely related to the occurrence of certain diseases in adulthood.The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between famine exposure from natural disasters and thyroid function in adulthood from October 1959 to December 1961,in order to investigate whether fetal nutrition deficiency affects thyroid function in adulthood.Research method: To collect serum thyroid function(s-TSH,T3,T4)from June 2011 to February 2017 in a large-scale tertiary-grade hospital in Fujian Province during an outpatient visit or hospitalization.The time of birth was 1959.From December to December 1961 and from October 1962 to December 1964,and excluded individuals with a personal history of thyroid disease and taking drugs that may affect thyroid function,a total of 3252 subjects were enrolled,according to the time of birth.Two groups,among whom were born from October 1959 to December 1961 were fetal famine exposed group(G1 group),and those born from October 1962 to December 1964 were non-exposed group(G2 group).Analysis of variance,rank sum test,and pairwise comparison Q test were used to analyze and compare the different ages of birth and gender.Serum sensitization of thyroid stimulating hormone(s-TSH)and triiodide in famine exposed and non-exposed groups Differences in the test levels of triiodothyronine(T3)and thyroxine(T4)and their trends.Venous blood samples were taken from the subjects and measured by electrochemiluminescence.Use Excel 2016 data system and SPSS 23.0 for data processing.Results: There was a statistically significant difference in serum TSH test levels between subjects of different birth years(P<0.05),but there was no significant difference in serum T3 and T4 test values between subjects of different birth years(P>0.05).There was a statistically significant difference in serum TSH test levels among male subjects in different years(P<0.05).Among them,those with 1960 and 1961 had the highest TSH test value,and 1962 had the lowest TSH test value.Serum TSH levels in the male fetal stage famine exposed group were significantly higher than those in the non-exposed group(P<0.05).There was a statistically significant difference in serum TSH test levels among the females in different years(P<0.05).Among them,the level of serum TSH test was the highest among those born in 1959,and the level of serum TSH test was lowest in those born in 1963.The level of serum TSH test in women exposed to famine was greater than that in the non-exposed group(P<0.05).Conclusion: In summary,famine exposure during natural disasters in early life may have an effect on thyroid function in adulthood.This effect is mainly manifested by elevated serum TSH levels and independent of gender.