Importance of thyroid hormones in intrauterine programming

Cross-sectional studies in humans and experimental data from animals have shown that a disturbed intrauterine environment can lead to morbidity in adult life. the phenomenon is known as barker’s theory, which was established almost 25 years ago (1-4). this concept has also been termed developmental programming (5), intrauterine programming (6), fetal programming (7), prenatal programming (8), and developmental origin of health and disease (dohad) (4) by different authors. previous studies have revealed the effects of different types of alteration of the uterine environment on adulthood disease. changes in intrauterine conditions can be due to malnutrition (9, 10), oxygen delivery capacity of the placenta (11), stress (12), and endocrine disorders (13). among the endocrine disruptions during fetal life, thyroid abnormalities can cause a wide spectrum of morbidities during adult life. this is because thyroid hormones are crucial for development, differentiation, and metabolism (14).