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Study on the Relationship Between Serum Iodine and Thyroid Dysfunctions: a Cross-Sectional Study

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Abstract

The relationship between serum iodine (SIC) and thyroid dysfunctions in adults is poorly understood, and this study aimed to explore their relationship. A total of 1320 participants were included in the final analysis. We collected basic demographic information, blood, and spot urine samples to determine serological indices and iodine nutritional status. The median (IQR) of urinary iodine (UIC)/urinary creatinine (UCr), UIC, SIC were 138.1 (91.1, 207.6) μg/g, 155.8 (94.5, 211.1) μg/L, and 70.6 (59.8, 83.9) μg/L, respectively. The 90% reference ranges for UIC/UCr and SIC were 66.5–349.8 mg/g and 49.3–97.1 μg/L. SIC was positively correlated with UIC and UIC/UCr. The prevalence of overt hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism in female was significantly higher than that in male (P = 0.02, P = 0.002). In male, subjects above the upper reference value of SIC (97.1 μg/L) had a higher risk of subclinical hyperthyroidism (OR = 4.46, 95% CI: 1.29, 12.8) and overt hypothyroidism (OR = 5.59, 95% CI: 1.88, 6.42). In female, subjects below the lower reference value of SIC (49.3 μg/L) had a higher risk of overt hypothyroidism (OR = 2.18, 95% CI: 1.10, 4.06), TgAb positive (OR = 1.97, 95% CI: 1.15, 3.32) and TPOAb positive (OR = 2.48, 95% CI: 1.41, 4.26). In conclusion, serum iodine can be used as an indicator to evaluate iodine nutritional status and thyroid dysfunctions. Higher serum iodine concentration was associated with an increased risk of subclinical hyperthyroidism and overt hypothyroidism in men; lower serum iodine concentration was associated with an increased risk of overt hypothyroidism and positive TgAb and TPOAb in women.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Nutrition and Human Health for providing a good environment for sample testing and paper writing; thanks to Tianjin Medical University General Hospital for providing the study population and sample collection.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 81703218 and 82073549).

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  1. Tingting Xu and Wenxing Guo make an equal contribution to the article.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    Tingting Xu, Wenxing Guo, Zhiyuan Ren, Long Tan & Wanqi Zhang

  2. Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China

    Hongyan Wei & Wanqi Zhang

  3. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environment, Nutrition and Public Health, Center for International Collaborative Research On Environment, Nutrition and Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    Long Tan & Wanqi Zhang

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Tingting Xu, Wenxing Guo, Ren Zhiyuan, and Hongyan Wei. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Tingting Xu and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Long Tan or Wanqi Zhang.

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Ethics Approval

This study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki and all procedures involving research study participants were approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Tianjin Medical University (serial number: IRB[2013]115). Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Participants have consented to the submission of this cross-sectional study to the journal.

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Xu, T., Guo, W., Ren, Z. et al. Study on the Relationship Between Serum Iodine and Thyroid Dysfunctions: a Cross-Sectional Study. Biol Trace Elem Res 201, 3613–3625 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03459-1

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