Assessment of first‐trimester thymus size and correlation with maternal diseases and fetal outcome

Abstract

Measurement of first-trimester thymus size is reliable. Fetal thymus size has a linear correlation with crown-rump length. Maternal diabetes, rheumatic disease and preterm birth appear to have an association with fetal thymus size.

Thymus Growth and Fetal Immune Responses in Diabetic Pregnancies

“…The size of the thymus was associated with gestational age and growth of the fetus in general, reflected by femur length and abdominal size. These findings are consistent with earlier studies: Varga et al [13] showed a positive correlation between the thymus size and birth length, weight and head circumference, and recent studies showed a linear correlation between thymus size and crown-rump length [4] and thymus growth and estimated fetal weight [14].…”

“…Therefore, the finding of an association between fetal thymus size and ma- ternal diseases like preeclampsia (associated with a decreased thymus size; [8]) or rheumatic diseases (associated with an increased thymus size; [4]) does not apply for pregnancies complicated by T1D. This result seems contrary to two recent studies reporting a decreased fetal thymus size in pregnancies affected by maternal diabetes [4,15]. However, in both studies the ultrasound investigations were performed earlier (1st trimester or at a median gestational age of 21.0 weeks, respectively) and pregnancies were complicated by diabetes in general and not particularly by autoimmune T1D.…”

“…The authors of this study describe a reduction of thymus growth even before the onset of preeclampsia and conclude that growth impairment of the thymus precedes maternal immunological changes [8]. An increased size of the fetal thymus has been described in pregnancies with rheumatic diseases [4]. Like preeclampsia and other diseases, maternal T1D may also have an impact on fetal thymus size and immune markers, but this has not been investigated so far.…”

“…The thymus is the central organ for the differentiation and functional maturation of T lymphocytes. A reliable measurement of the thymus with ultrasound is possible starting approximately around the 12th-14th week of gestation [4]. The fetal thymus plays a cru-Supplementary Material for this article is available online at http://www.thieme-connect.de/products…”

Maternal High-Fat Feeding Affects the Liver and Thymus Metabolic Axis in the Offspring and Some Effects Are Attenuated by Maternal Diet Normalization in a Minipig Model

“…We previously reported that high-fat diet (HFD) consumption during pregnancy affects the brain glucose metabolism and myocardial function in the offspring [2,3], but the metabolic impact on liver and immune organs, from birth to late adulthood, has not been elucidated. During fetal and early post-natal life [6,7], the liver generates blood and immune cells in specialized areas called niches, providing a supportive microenvironment for highly proliferative hematopoietic stem cells [8], and cooperates with the thymus in T lymphocyte production and maturation [9][10][11][12][13]. Maternal HFD was shown to compromise the hematopoietic compartment in the fetal liver [14].…”