CATS III, V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Treatment of suboptimal maternal thyroid function as a window to mechanisms of childhood brain development and function
IRAS ID
200718
Contact name
Aled Rees
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Background: Mild underactivity of the thyroid affects 1 in 20 pregnant women. Children born to mothers with low thyroid hormone (TH) levels have a lower IQ but it is unclear if this applies to all exposed children, what mechanisms are involved and whether treatment with TH is helpful. TH action in the developing brain depends on an important gene called deiodinase 2 (DIO2) in addition to the mother’s TH levels. We have found that children carrying a common variant of the DIO2 gene and exposed to low TH levels in pregnancy had a higher risk of low IQ at age 9, in a follow-up of the CATS (Controlled Antenatal Thyroid Screening) study which treated half of 600 women found to have low TH in pregnancy with thyroxine. Objectives: We aim to understand the mechanisms by which IQ is affected by undertaking repeat IQ tests, behaviour questionnaires and state-of-the-art MRI measures of brain structure in 80 CATS children at age 11-13. The study will be conducted at the new Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) and will recruit from September 2016 onwards.
REC name
Wales REC 1
REC reference
16/WA/0237
Date of REC Opinion
20 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion