Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Iodine deficiency is a significant global health issue of various severity depending on the age of the deficiency. The foetal period is the most critical stage in life, negatively impacting the brain and neurodevelopment. Hence, the developing foetus is a crucial issue, and the present study focussed on iodine nutrition among pregnant women from the Faroe Islands. The need for iodine increases in pregnancy, and the recommended target for median urinary iodine concentration is 150-250 µg/l.

Method: We recruited 630 participants in a nationwide, cross-sectional study of pregnant women. They were primarily Caucasian women referred to routine obstetric ultrasound from 2020 through 2022 in gestational week 18. Participants donated a spot urine sample and completed an iodine-specific questionnaire. Iodine was determined using the Sandell-Kolthoff reaction modified according to Wilson and van Zyl.

Results: The participation rate was 70%. The overall median urinary concentration was 110 µg/l for the two years of collecting data. Interestingly, the median UIC decreased from 121 µg/l during the first year of inclusion to 96 µg/l during the second year (P<0.01). Conversely, the number of samples in the excessive range decreased from 9.1% to 3.6% (P<0.001). Dietary data are underway.

Conclusion: The marked change over time raises concerns about the validity of cross-sectional studies of iodine nutrition with short-term data collection. The time trend may have several explanations, including a change in the intake of local foods rich in iodine, which needs follow-up. Finally, according to the WHO recommendations, our nationwide study demonstrated that Faroese pregnant women were iodine depleted.