Thyroid hormone deficiency due to preterm birth may hinder the development of colour vision.
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 71
ISBN-13: 9780494214046
Description: In development, thyroid hormone (TH) is essential for determining the pattern and distribution of photoreceptors across the retina, including the switch from S-opsin (responsible for blue-yellow vision) to M-opsin (responsible for red-green vision), known to occur during midgestation in humans. A deficiency of TH during pregnancy is thought to hinder this switch and result in longer RG latencies. To test this hypothesis, we employed a model of TH insufficiency based on preterm birth: the earlier an infant is born, the sooner it is cutoff from its maternal source of TH, the main TH supply during the first half of pregnancy and of continued necessity until birth. Our findings indicate a non-significant trend toward longer RG latencies in earlier born infants and correlations between TH and RG latency (longer RG latencies correlated with higher TSH levels). Our findings therefore support the theory that TH plays a role in colour vision development.
Notes: Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-03, page: 1683.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

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