ExtractTwenty-seven paired maternal-cord sera were analyzed for serum triiodothyronine (T3), total serum thyroxine (TT4), and maximum thyroxine globulin binding capacity (TBG cap.). In 17 of the infants the same studies were repeated at 1 week of age and in 10 of the 17 at 1 month. The mean T 3 value for the cord sera was 73.1 ± 20.4 ng/100 ml while the mean value for the maternal sera was 204 ± 49.2. The difference in the mean values was highly significant (P < 0.001). The maternal T 3 values are comparable with those of nonpregnant control subjects; those of cord blood fall below normal values. No statistically significant difference was found between the TT4 and TBG cap. values for cord and maternal sera. Both values were higher than the normal nonpregnant control values. At 1 week of age the serum T 3 levels had increased to a mean of 208.4 ± 40.9 ng/100 ml. This mean is significantly different from the one observed in cord sera (P < 0.001). A significant increase in the TT 4 values, mean 12.53 ± 2.2 Mg/100 ml (P < 0.01), was observed by the end of the 1st week. TBG cap. did not change significantly between birth and 1 week of age; by the end of the 1st month of life the serum TT 4 had decreased significantly to a mean of 9.5 ± 2.7 Mg/100 ml (P < 0.05), while the serum T 3 was maintained at a mean level of 228.2 ± 16.9 ng/100 ml, a value not significantly different from the one observed at 1 week of age.
SpeculationThe extremely low levels of T 3 in the cord blood in the presence of TT 4 and TBG cap. values equal to those of the maternal blood suggest minimal materno-fetal placental transfer of T 3 . We have postulated that the low fetal T3 is responsible for the high levels of pituitary thyrotropic hormone (TSH) present in cord blood and early in the postnatal period and that the high levels of TT 4 with normal T 3 levels observed by the end of the 1 st week of life indicate defective peripheral deiodination of thyroxine (T 4 ) to T 3 and account for the lack of signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism. By the end of 1 month of age TT 4 and T 3 values are within normal ranges, which indicates maturation in the metabolic pathway of T 4 and T 3 .
706T 3 , TT4, and T4/T3 in maternal-cord sera 707