Endocrine Abstracts

This communication tests the hypothesis that iodine (I2) gas or iodine oxides released from seaweeds previously shown to enhance atmospheric iodine adjacent to seaweed hotspots, may through being inspired by respiration, supply a significant fraction of daily iodine requirements. This could assume importance in a country such as Ireland where iodised salt availability is <5%. Iodine intake was assessed by measuring urinary iodine (UI) excretion using a dry ashing technique...

The production of iodine containing thyroid hormones necessary for brain development in the fetus depends not only on maternal dietary intake but also on placental iodine transport.Previously, studies focused on finding the optimum level of iodine nutrition for expectant mothers. However, little knowledge exists on the ability of the placenta to either accumulate or even store iodine. This study aims to investigate iodine uptake and tissue iodine content...

Serum thyroglobulin (Tg) is a tumour marker used to manage patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). However, its diagnostic accuracy can be questioned when thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb) are simultaneously present. Changes in serum TgAb can also serve as an index of disease progression in DTC. The objective of this study was to identify the relationship between TgAb titre and disease progression, defined as radiological or histological evidence of recurrence. Eig...

Despite the relative absence of iodised salt (only ∼4% of table salt is iodised), Ireland has not been regarded as a region with a high prevalence of iodine deficiency disorders. However a recent and worrying decline in urinary iodine (UI) excretion, most marked in the summer months, was observed with median UI of 61–83 ug/L between 1988 and 1999; falling to 45.0 ug/L in 2004 and to 42.5 ug/L in 2005 with UI values <50 ug/L (64.5% and 73.9% respectively in summe...

Inadequate dietary iodine intake is the most common cause of preventable mental impairment worldwide and is defined by the WHO as a population median urinary iodine (UI) excretion <100 μg/l. No contemporary data are available for the UK according to the ICCIDD. The UK has no programme of food/salt iodination.We have performed a systematic assessment of the current UK iodine status in 14–15 years old schoolgirls. Seven hundred and eighty-fiv...