Variations in urinary iodine excretion and thyroid function. A 1-year study in healthy men

Department of Endocrinology and Medicine, Aalborg Hospital, Reberbansgade, DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark. stiga@dadlnet.dk

OBJECTIVE: The iodine intake level in a population is determined in cross-sectional studies. A fraction of samples with iodine content below a certain level, e.g. 25 microg/l, may suggest iodine deficiency in part of the population. However, urinary iodine varies considerably from day to day and the fraction of low samples caused by dispersion remains unsettled. DESIGN: A longitudinal study of 16 healthy men living in an area of mild to moderate iodine deficiency. METHODS: We measured urinary iodine and creatinine concentrations, and serum TSH, total thyroxine (T4), free T4 index and total tri-iodothyronine (T3) in samples collected monthly for 1 year. RESULTS: Average urinary iodine excretion was 57.0 microg/l (49.1 microg/24 h (corrected for creatinine excretion)) and varied from 29 to 81 microg/l (28 to 81 microg/24 h) between participants. Individual samples varied between 10 and 260 microg/l, and the variation around the mean was 2.4 times larger when calculated for the 180 individual samples compared with the 15 average annual values (1.7 times larger for estimated 24 h iodine excretion values). The fraction of individual samples below 25 microg/l was 6.7% (7.2% < 25 microg/24 h), whereas none of the participants had average iodine excretion below 25 microg/l or 25 microg/24 h. Participants with average annual iodine excretion below 50 microg/24 h had a negative correlation between iodine excretion and TSH, whereas a positive correlation was observed when average annual iodine excretion was above this level. CONCLUSIONS: Seven per cent of individual urine samples indicated severe iodine deficiency without this being present in the group studied. Dispersion was reduced by 24% when using estimated 24 h urinary iodine excretion rather than urinary iodine concentration. Participants with moderate iodine deficiency (average annual urinary iodine excretion 25-50 microg/24 h) showed clear signs of substrate deficiency for thyroid hormone synthesis while participants with mild iodine deficiency (50-100 microg/24 h) did not.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. E. Haddow, M. R. McClain, G. E. Palomaki, and J. G. Hollowell Urine Iodine Measurements, Creatinine Adjustment, and Thyroid Deficiency in an Adult United States Population J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., March 1, 2007; 92(3): 1019 - 1022. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. A. H. Cann Hypothesis: dietary iodine intake in the etiology of cardiovascular disease. J. Am. Coll. Nutr., February 1, 2006; 25(1): 1 - 11. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Andersen, B. Hvingel, K. Kleinschmidt, T. Jorgensen, and P. Laurberg Changes in iodine excretion in 50-69-y-old denizens of an Arctic society in transition and iodine excretion as a biomarker of the frequency of consumption of traditional Inuit foods Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, March 1, 2005; 81(3): 656 - 663. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M S Kibirige, S Hutchison, C J Owen, and H T Delves Prevalence of maternal dietary iodine insufficiency in the north east of England: implications for the fetus Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed., September 1, 2004; 89(5): F436 - F439. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Andersen, K. M. Pedersen, N. H. Bruun, and P. Laurberg Narrow Individual Variations in Serum T4 and T3 in Normal Subjects: A Clue to the Understanding of Subclinical Thyroid Disease J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., March 1, 2002; 87(3): 1068 - 1072. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. A. H. Cann, J. P. van Netten, C. van Netten, F. H. Messerli, and R. E. Schmieder Iodized Salt and Hypertension Arch Intern Med, January 14, 2002; 162(1): 104 - 105. [Full Text] [PDF]