ArticleThe Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism2018
Higher TSH Levels Within the Normal Range Are Associated With Unexplained Infertility.
Article in The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence-based guideline: unexplained infertility†.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2023Guideline
- Polyendocrine-Metabolic Profile in Adolescents and Young Women with Ovulatory Dysfunction: A Cross-Sectional Study.Biology · 2026Article
- Successful Pregnancy After Therapeutic Apheresis in a Complex Case of PCOS, Hashimoto Thyroiditis, Recurrent Implantation Failure, and Potential Occupational Environmental Exposure.International medical case reports journal · 2026Article
- Determining factors associated with the number of oocytes with appropriate morphology in infertile women: A cross-sectional study.International journal of reproductive biomedicine · 2025Article
- Differential Expression of Complement Pathway Components in Unexplained Infertility Versus Male Factor Infertility: Insights from an Exploratory Pilot Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- The association of higher thyroid stimulating hormone levels in the normal range with unexplained infertility: A cross-sectional study.International journal of reproductive biomedicine · 2024Article
- Levothyroxine for a high-normal TSH in unexplained infertility.Clinical endocrinology · 2024Article
- Causal association between thyroid function and the risk of infertility: a Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy: Impact on Body Mass Index and Thyroid Hormones in Euthyroid Obese Patients.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2023Article
- Effects of exposure to the inhalational anaesthetic sevoflurane on the male reproductive system in rats.Veterinary medicine and science · 2023Article
- The role of thyroid function in female and male infertility: a narrative review.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2023Review
- The Impact of Moderately High Preconception Thyrotropin Levels on Ovarian Reserve Among Euthyroid Infertile Women Undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technology.Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association · 2022Article
- Anti-thyroid antibodies in the relation to TSH levels and family history of thyroid diseases in young Caucasian women.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Article
- Impact of preconceptional serum thyroid stimulating hormone values ranging between 2.5 and 4.5 mIU/L on live birth rates following ovulation induction and intrauterine insemination treatment for unexplained infertility.BMC women's health · 2021Article
- 2021 European Thyroid Association Guideline on Thyroid Disorders prior to and during Assisted Reproduction.European thyroid journal · 2021Article
- Phosphodiesterase 8B Polymorphism rs4704397 Is Associated with Infertility in Subclinical Hypothyroid Females: A Case-Control Study.International journal of fertility & sterility · 2020Article
- [Thyroid disease in pregnancy : Review of current literature and guidelines].Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift (1946) · 2020Review
- High Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Level Is Associated With Hyperandrogenism in Euthyroid Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Women, Independent of Age, BMI, and Thyroid Autoimmunity: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2019Article
- Live birth rate after intrauterine insemination is not different between women with lower quartile versus higher quartile normal range thyroid stimulating hormone levels.Human reproduction open · 2019Article
- Letter to the Editor: "Higher TSH Levels Within the Normal Range Are Associated With Unexplained Infertility".The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Context: Unexplained infertility (UI), defined as the inability to conceive after 12 months of unprotected intercourse with no diagnosed cause, affects 10% to 30% of infertile couples. An improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying UI could lead to less invasive and less costly treatment strategies. Abnormalities in thyroid function and hyperprolactinemia are well-known causes of infertility, but whether thyrotropin (TSH) and prolactin levels within the normal range are associated with UI is unknown. Objective: To compare TSH and prolactin levels in women with UI and women with a normal fertility evaluation except for an azoospermic or severely oligospermic male partner. Design, Setting, and Participants: Cross-sectional study including women evaluated at a large academic health system between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2012 with normal TSH (levels within the normal range of the assay and ≤5 mIU/L) and normal prolactin levels (≤20 ng/mL) and either UI (n = 187) or no other cause of infertility other than an azoospermic or severely oligospermic partner (n = 52). Main Outcome Measures: TSH and prolactin. Results: Women with UI had significantly higher TSH levels than controls [UI: TSH 1.95 mIU/L, interquartile range: (1.54, 2.61); severe male factor: TSH 1.66 mIU/L, interquartile range: (1.25, 2.17); P = 0.003]. This finding remained significant after we controlled for age, body mass index, and smoking status. Nearly twice as many women with UI (26.9%) had a TSH ≥2.5 mIU/L compared with controls (13.5%; P < 0.05). Prolactin levels did not differ between the groups. Conclusions: Women with UI have higher TSH levels compared with a control population. More studies are necessary to determine whether treatment of high-normal TSH levels decreases time to conception in couples with UI.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.