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Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes

Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes

Published on: June 28, 2024

The role of magnesium and thyroid function in early pregnancy after in-vitro fertilization (IVF): New aspects in

Sibilla Stuefer¹, Helga Moncayo¹, Roy Moncayo¹

¹WOMED, Karl-Kapferer-Strasse 5, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.

|December 18, 2015

Background:

The initiation of a pregnancy is a process that requires adequate energetic support. Recent observations at our Institution suggest a central role of magnesium in this situation. The aim of this study was to evaluate magnesium, zinc, selenium and thyroid function as well as anti-Müllerian hormone in early pregnancy following in-vitro fertilization as compared to spontaneous successful pregnancies.

Results:

A successful outcome of pregnancy after IVF treatment was associated with 2 parameters: higher levels of anti-Müllerian hormone as well as higher levels of magnesium in the pre-stimulation blood sample. These two parameters, however, showed no correlation. Spontaneous pregnancies as well as pregnancies after IVF show a fall of magnesium levels at 2-3 weeks of gestation. This drop of magnesium concentration is larger following IVF as compared to spontaneous pregnancies. Parallel to these changes TSH levels showed an increase in early IVF-pregnancy. At this time point we also observed a positive correlation between fT4 and TSH. This was not observed in spontaneous pregnancies. Thyroid antibodies showed no correlation to outcomes.

Conclusions:

In connection with the initiation of pregnancy following ovarian stimulation dynamic changes of magnesium and TSH levels can be observed. A positive correlation was found between fT4 and TSH in IVF pregnancies. In spontaneous pregnancies smaller increases of TSH levels are related to higher magnesium levels.

General Significance:

We propose that magnesium plays a role in early pregnancy as well as in pregnancy success independently from anti-Müllerian hormone. Neither thyroid hormones nor thyroid antibodies were related to outcome.

Keywords:

IVF Magnesium Pregnancy TSH Thyroid function fT3 fT4

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