title: Urinary iodine concentrations of pregnant women in Ukraine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Iodine requirements increase during pregnancy and previous studies have reported the inadequate iodine status of pregnant women in areas that have achieved iodine sufficiency in the general population. We examined the urinary iodine (UI) concentrations of pregnant women in Ukraine, where the iodine status is showing improvement among the general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  We enrolled 148 pregnant women<16 weeks pregnant and 80 healthy women as a control group living in Zhitomir, Ukraine. UI concentration, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), antithyroglobulin antibodies (TGAb), and antithyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median UI concentrations were significantly lower in pregnant women than in control women [13.0 (ND–51.0) μg/L vs. 62.0 (35.3–108.5) μg/L, p<0.001]. TSH concentrations were significantly lower in pregnant women than in control women [1.7 (1.2–2.7) IU/L vs. 2.2 (1.4–3.1) IU/L, p=0.011], but this difference disappeared when adjusted for age (2.1±0.1 IU/L vs. 2.4±0.2 IU/L, p=0.097). The frequency of TSH over 6.2 IU/L and the frequency of positive TGAb and/or TPOAb were not statistically different between groups (p=0.70 and p=0.48, respectively). The UI concentrations of 142 pregnant women (95.9%) were <150 μg/L indicating insufficient iodine intake.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The UI concentration of pregnant women in Ukraine revealed severe iodine deficiency. Regular monitoring and appropriate nutrition education are essential because iodine deficiency can be easily prevented by adequate iodine intake. The risk of iodine deprivation during pregnancy needs to be assessed locally over time because it may occur in areas that are not globally recognized as being iodine-deficient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health, Medicine and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan
authors.forename: Yui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sekitani
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hayashida
authors.forename: Jumpei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Alexander A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Kozlovsky
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rudnitskiy
authors.forename: Anjelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petrova
authors.forename: Oleksandr K
authors.initials: OK
authors.lastname: Gutevych
authors.forename: Sergiy A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Chorniy
authors.forename: Shunichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takamura
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum / Q000032:analysis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007453:Iodide Peroxidase / Q000276:immunology; D007455:Iodine / Q000652:urine*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000032:analysis; D014455:Ukraine; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum; D013972:Thyrotropin; D007455:Iodine; D007453:Iodide Peroxidase