Endocrine Abstracts

As a component of thyroid hormones, iodine is essential for the development of the fetus, particularly for brain development. Though there has been no awareness of a problem of iodine deficiency in the UK for many years, it is becoming increasingly apparent that mild-to-moderate iodine-deficient is now present in certain population sub-groups. We assessed whether such a level of deficiency in UK pregnant women could be having an adverse effect on cognition in their offspring u...

Iodine deficiency was common in the UK until the 1960s and was eradicated mainly through the adventitious increase in milk-iodine concentration. Iodine sufficiency was subsequently assumed in the UK, until a recent national study revealed mild iodine deficiency in adolescent girls, giving cause for concern. Iodine, as a component of the thyroid hormones, is crucial for brain development, and particularly during gestation. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between i...

Background: Normal pregnancy is a state of physiological oxidative stress (OS) with oxidants facilitating the implantation of the embryo and optimal decidualisation but counterbalanced by antioxidants. Pro-oxidant processes exceeding the anti-oxidants capacity result in imbalanced OS, which has been associated with the ‘’big four’’ obstetric complications: pre-term birth, intra-uterine growth retardation, pre-eclampsia and diabetes gravidarum. Important OS ...