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Thyroid Science

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Thyroid Science 5(4):CLS1-7, 2010

Assessment of Thyroid Function and
Leptin Hormone in Women with
Hyperemesis Gravidarum

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Hussein Abdel Hai El Orabi,¹ Inas Mohamed Sabry,¹
Ahmed Mohamed Awad Allah,² Alshymaa Alsayed Abd Alkhalek¹

¹Department of Internal Medicine; Endocrine Unit,
²Department of Gynecology and obstetric,
Ain Shams University; Cairo, Egypt

*Corresponding Author: Inas Mohamed Sabry Mohamed El Nabrawy MD,
Endocrine unit, Internal Medicine Department, Ain Shams University Hospitals,
Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University. Abbassia, Cairo, Egypt.
Address: 8 Nasr Street, 1st May Buildings, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt.
Tel: +2 0101780318 Fax: +2. 24845647
Email: inassabry27@gmail.com, nancy27eg@yahoo.com

Abstract. Background. Several studies have suggested that hyperemesis gravidarum in early pregnancy is related to women’s levels of thyroid hormones, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and serum leptin. To ascertain this relationship, we investigated 50 pregnant women in the first trimester. Twenty subjects had morning sickness, 20 had hyperemesis gravidarum, and 10 were healthy pregnant women who served as control subjects. Methods. The enzyme immunoassay method was used to measure all subjects’ serum levels of T3 (pg/mL), T4 (ng/dL), TSH (µIU/mL), antithyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) antibodies (IU/ml), and leptin (ng/mL). Serum β hCG was quantitatively assayed. Results. There was a statistically significant difference between the three studied groups as regards serum free T4 (p < 0.05), but there was no difference as regards serum free T3, TSH, anti-TPO, and serum β-hCG (p > 0.05). Serum leptin was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the hyperemesis gravidarum and vomiting group compared to the healthy control group, with a non-significant difference between pregnant women with hyperemesis gravidrum and those with vomiting (p > 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that the only significant positive correlation was between serum T3 and serum leptin (p < 0.05) in hyperemesis gravidarum. No significant correlation was found between β-hCG and thyroid hormones, antithyroid antibodies, and serum leptin in pregnant women with morning sickness and hyperemesis gravidarum (p > 0.05). Conclusion. Our results suggest that serum leptin levels are involved in the pathogenesis of hyperemesis gravidarum. No significant role was detected for thyroid hormones, serum β-hCG, or anti-TPO in patients with hyperemesis gravidarum.

Keywords • Hyperemesis gravidarum • hCG • Leptin • Pregnancy • T3 • T4 • Thyroid hormone

El Orabi, H.A.H., Sabry, I.M., Allah, A.M.A., Alkhalek, A.A.A.: Assessment of thyroid function and leptin hormone in women with hyperemesis gravidarum. Thyroid Science, 5(4):1-7, 2010.