HLA‐DR factors associated with postpartum hypothyroidism : an early manifestation of Hashimoto's thyroiditis?

Abstract
Thirty-three Danish women selected from a prospective study of postpartum thyroiditis were HLA-DR typed. All women had positive titers of antimicrosomal antibodies, and 20 women developed thyroid dysfunction after delivery. DR5 and the phenotype 4,5 were siginficantly increased in the whole group (p < 0.001) and strongly associated to hypothyroidism (p < 0.01), whereas DR3 was insignificantly increased in thyrotoxic women. It is concluded that postpartum hypothyroidism is an autoimmune disorder and may be an early manifestation of Hashimoto''s thyroiditis.