The epidemiology of iodine-deficiency disorders in relation to goitrogenic factors and thyroid-stimulating-hormone regulation.
In children aged 5-7 y from goiter-endemic areas in Ubangi, Zaire, and Ntcheu, Malawi, mean serum thyroxin (T4) concentrations were 53 +/- 49 vs 81 +/- 33 nmol/L (P < 0.05), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) values were 24.3 +/- 9.6 vs 4.5 +/- 3.3 mU/L respectively (P < 0.01); mean urinary iodine concentrations were 0.14 +/- 0.02 vs 0.09 +/- 0.02 mumol/L, and mean thiocyanate concentrations were 0.33 +/- 0.05 vs 0.17 +/- 0.05 nmol/L, respectively (P < 0.05). Mean serum selenium concentrations were 0.343 +/- 0.176 mumol/L in Ubangi and 0.437 +/- 0.178 mumol/L in Ntcheu (P < 0.05). In two groups of 11 adolescent girls from Ubangi, the mean values for excretion of urinary iodine were 1.31 +/- 0.14 and 0.58 +/- 0.17 mumol/L (P < 0.05) after a meal of cassava or a control meal of rice, respectively. In euthyroid subjects from Ubangi, mean serum TSH for a given serum T4 was approximately twice as high for children aged < 15 y than for those aged 16-25 y. The high frequency of myxedematous cretins observed in Ubangi very probably result from both severe iodine and selenium deficiency together with thiocyanate overload.
Thilly
C H
CH
Cemubac Medical Team, Free University of Brussels, Belgium.
Swennen
B
B
Bourdoux
P
P
Ntambue
K
K
Moreno-Reyes
R
R
Gillies
J
J
Vanderpas
J B
JB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003409:Congenital Hypothyroidism / Q000209:etiology; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006043:Goiter, Endemic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007455:Iodine / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000652:urine; D008295:Malawi; D012643:Selenium / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency; D013861:Thiocyanates / Q000652:urine; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood*; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000097:blood
D013861:Thiocyanates; D013972:Thyrotropin; D007455:Iodine; D012643:Selenium; C031760:thiocyanate; D013974:Thyroxine