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Iodine Nutrition and Thyroid Function in Pregnant Women Exposed to Different Iodine Sources

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Abstract

Pregnant women are more vulnerable to iodine deficiency and iodine excess. The study aimed to assess the changes in iodine nutrition and thyroid function of pregnant women exposed to different iodine sources resulting in various iodine intakes during pregnancy. From 2016 to 2017, 2004 healthy pregnant women aged 20–35 years from Shandong and Tianjin, China, were enrolled. Urinary iodine concentration (UIC), drinking water iodine content (WIC), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroid hormone (FT4), thyroglobulin (Tg), serum thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb), and thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) were measured. Pregnant women in both Shandong and Tianjin were iodine sufficient, but the median UIC in pregnant women was significantly higher in Shandong (244 μg/L) than that in Tianjin (159 μg/L). No differences were found in UIC over the course of gestation in Shandong. In Tianjin, the UIC decreased during 13–24 weeks and stabilized thereafter. Compared with Tianjin, TSH levels were higher and FT3 and FT4 levels were lower in Shandong. Both FT3 and FT4 significantly decreased during pregnancy in Shandong and Tianjin. TSH and Tg increased over the course of gestation in both Shandong and Tianjin. The iodine status of pregnant women in Tianjin and Shandong were sufficient, but different changing patterns in UIC and thyroid function during pregnancy were presented. More attention should be focused on iodine nutrition of pregnant women, even in iodine-sufficient areas.

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Acknowledgements

We express our sincere thanks to all participants in our study, healthcare personnel at Tanggu Maternity Hospital, Gaoqing Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Child Health Hospital of Gaoqing for the assistance they offered in collecting biological samples in our study. Also, we acknowledge the Key Laboratory of Hormone and Development (Ministry of Health), Metabolic Diseases Hospital, and the Tianjin Institute of Endocrinology, Tianjin Medical University, for the measurement of urine and water sample, and the endocrinology department in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital for evaluating thyroid function and supporting professional advice.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Key projects of Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (Grant no. 81330064) and Tianjin Science and Technology Committee Project Foundation (Grant no. 14ZCZDSY00022).

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  1. Yanting Chen and Wen Chen contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, #22 Qixiangtai Street, Heping District, Tianjin, 300070, China

    Yanting Chen, Wen Chen, Cong Du, Lili Fan, Wei Wang, Min Gao, Yixin Zhang, Tingkai Cui, Yunmeng Hao & Wanqi Zhang

  2. Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, USA

    Elizabeth N. Pearce

  3. Department of Obstetrics, Tanggu Maternity Hospital, Tianjin, China

    Chongdan Wang

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  1. Yanting Chen
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Correspondence to Wanqi Zhang.

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All research protocols were approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Tianjin Medical University, and all procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration. All participants provided written informed consent after research protocols were carefully explained to them.

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Chen, Y., Chen, W., Du, C. et al. Iodine Nutrition and Thyroid Function in Pregnant Women Exposed to Different Iodine Sources. Biol Trace Elem Res 190, 52–59 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1530-8

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