Objective: Pregnancy is a physiological state accompanied by a high-energy demand and an increased oxygen requirement which leads to altered metabolic and hormonal status of the body. The present study was conducted to find out thyroid hormone status in various trimesters of normal pregnancy and its relation (if any exists) to various metabolic changes during pregnancy such as in lipedimic and glycemic index and oxidative stress levels. Design and Methods: Study designed with 40 healthy nonpregnant females (group 1) who served as control and 60 normal pregnant females divided as group 2 (1st trimester), group 3 (2nd trimester), group 4 (3rd trimester). Thyroid function tests carried out by measuring total (T3, T4) and TSH levels investigated their association with changes in Lipedimic status (Total cholesterol, Triglycerides, High density lipoprotein, Low density lipoprotein, Very low density lipoprotein), Glycemic status (fasting serum glucose, insulin, c-peptide, HOMA-IR) and oxidative stress level (Superoxide dismutase, Malondialdehyde) in all groups. Results: Thyroid hormones (T3,T4) and TSH increased (at p<0.05) in pregnant females in all three trimesters as compared to non-pregnant females . Total cholesterol, triglyceride levels (at p<0.001) and levels of insulin and Insulin resistance ( at p<0.05) increased significantly during pregnancy especially in 2nd and 3rd trimesters when compared with non pregnant females. Oxidative stress level also increased during pregnancy in terms of significant increased levels of MDA (at p<0.05) from 2.50±0.73nmol/ml in non pregnant females to 2.65±0.57nmol/ml in 1st trimester, 3.67±0.73nmol/ml (at p<0.05) in 2nd trimester, 5.35±0.57nmol/ml (at p<0.05) in 3rd trimester respectively. Insulin was found to be directly related to thyroid hormone increase. Conclusions: Thyroid hormone changes during pregnancy is associated with alterations in Lipedimic and glycemic status along with increase in oxidative stress.
