Infertility and Thyroid Autoimmunity

Abstract

The birth rate in Europe has reached the very low rate of 1.58 children per woman [1]; in Italy, the rate is even lower, with just 1.35 children per couple recorded in 2015 [2]. In the industrial city of Turin, the rate is less than one child per couple, whilst a rate of two children per woman is considered the standard replacement rate for a population, resulting in relative stability in terms of total numbers. Rates above two children indicate growing populations with a declining median age. Conversely, there is a significant migration rate from foreign countries, mostly from Africa and the Middle East, which causes social unrest. A contributing factor to this low birth rate is infertility, for which cures are thus required. Thyroid autoimmunity can cause low fertility [3], which can be treated with immunosuppressive drugs, even in the absence of functional thyroid damage. Anti-thyroid autoantibodies are often present in women of child-bearing age [4], and up to 51.4% of women with thyroid disorders have circulating anti-thyroid autoantibodies [5].