Feeding supplemental iodine to mink: reproductive and histopathologic effects.
Adult mink were fed various concentrations of supplemental iodine, ranging from 10 to 320 ppm, for 1 or 7 mo before breeding. Long-term, low-level (10-20 ppm) iodine supplementation was beneficial for both reproduction and lactation. Supplemental iodine in excess of 80 ppm, however, resulted in a reduction in the number of females that whelped, a decrease in litter size, and an increase in kit mortality. Thyroid glands of kits whelped and nursed by dams fed more than 20 ppm supplemental iodine, both short-term and long-term, showed hypertrophy marked by follicular cell hyperplasia and a decreased amount of colloid. Similar histopathologic lesions were observed in the thyroids of adults that received 80 ppm or more supplemental iodine; also observed were numerous lesions in the gallbladder.
D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D005704:Gallbladder / Q000473:pathology; D007455:Iodine / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D008907:Mink / Q000502:physiology*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000473:pathology
D007455:Iodine