Iodine and iodothyronine content in human neonate thyroid gland

Abstract

A few years after the iodine content of salt in Serbia was increased from 7 to 15 mg/kg NaCI, iodine, thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) concentrations were measured in thyroid tissue obtained at autopsy from 21 human neonates who died within 30 days after birth. The thyroidal iodine as well as T4 and T3 content per gland in­creased progressively with gestational age of human neonates (r = 0.73, 0.70 and 0.67 respectively, p < 0.001). In seven newborns (gestational age 36 to 41 weeks) the mean values for total iodine, T4 and T3 per gland were 109.1 μg, 52.2 μg and 4.4 μg respectively. The results of iodine and iodothyroninc content found in neonatal thyroid gland, particularly at the end of gestation and a few days of postnatal life, indicates that the iodine supply was satisfactory.