Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Low iodine intake during pregnancy may cause thyroid dysfunction, which might result in an inadequate foetal brain development. Although Latvia has been considered iodine replete, newborn TSH screening data suggest some iodine deficiency. In the absence of universal salt iodization programme we conducted a nation-wide study of pregnant women from all regions of Latvia.Methods: The study enrolled 426 pregnant women. They were asked to fill a...

Introduction: Pregnant women are at risk for selenium deficiency, which is known to maintain adequate function of immune system and thyroprotective enzymes. Same, iodine is an essential micronutrient for thyroid hormone synthesis and important endocrine regulator of early brain development. Our previous study revealed that 81% of pregnant women in Latvia have insufficient levels of iodine. The aim of the present study was to evaluate iodine and selenium supply during pregnancy...