title: Role of bamboo-shoot in the pathogenesis of endemic goiter in manipur, north East India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Endemic goiter is prevalent in the iodine-sufficient region of Manipur, India. Bamboo shoot (BS), a goitrogenic plant food, are consumed regularly in the area. The objective of this study was to examine the role of BS in the pathogenesis of endemic goiter.
  
  
  METHODS
  Goiter prevalence, urinary iodine, and thiocyanate (SCN) excretion in school children, iodine content in drinking water, and the household consumption of salt fortified with iodine were measured. To confirm the goitrogenic potential of BS, its progoitrogenic constituents were fed to rats as part of an iodine-sufficient diet, after which the animals' thyroid gland morphology and functional status were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Goiter prevalence was 31% in 4852 children, and the median urinary I and SCN levels were 176.3 μg/L and 0.962 ± 0.190 mg/dL, respectively. Of the households assessed, 90% consumed salt fortified with adequate iodine. Progoitrogenic constituents were high in BS from Manipur. Increased thyroid weight, hypertrophy and hyperplasia of follicular cells, decreased thyroid peroxidase activity, and low serum thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) levels were observed in BS-fed rats.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nearly one third of the studied participants had palpable goiter, despite a successful salt iodine fortification program. SCN from BS causes goiter in iodine-sufficient experimental animals. Similar ingestion in study participants was confirmed and is the likely cause for the persistence of endemic goiter in the Manipur region.
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Reproductive Physiology Laboratory, Department of Physiology, University of Calcutta, West Bengal, India. physiology.ac@gmail.com
authors.forename: Amar K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Chandra
authors.forename: Laishram H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Suvendu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Elizabeth N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Pearce
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D031723:Bambusa / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D006042:Goiter / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000652:urine; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007455:Iodine / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013861:Thiocyanates / Q000652:urine; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000473:pathology*; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000097:blood; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D013861:Thiocyanates; D014284:Triiodothyronine; D007455:Iodine; C031760:thiocyanate; D013974:Thyroxine