ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2006 December;165(6):257-9

Copyright © 2006 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

The study of iodine concentration in human milk in the north and south of Tehran city Health care centers

Khaghani S. H. ¹, Nazem H. ², Pasalar P. ¹, Ansari M. ¹, Eshaghi T. ¹, Nematzadeh S. ¹, Ghanbari S. ³, Keshani M. ³

¹ Department of Biochemistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; ² Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Payame Nour University, Teheran, Iran; ³ Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Aim. Iodine is necessary for the formation of thyroid hormones. There are still wide areas in the world where the iodine supply of the population is clearly deficient. The introduction of systematic neonatal screening for congenital hypothyroidism has clearly shown that even in Europe there are still several areas in which borderline iodine deficiency affects the thyroid function of young infants. However, in the USA there is growing concern about excessive iodine intake.
Methods. Across-sectional study of total iodine acquired from mother’s milk in two areas on the Iodine salt regimen program was performed (one group in the north area and another group in the south of Tehran). Breast feeding mothers were recruited from public clinics and after explaining the objectives of this study and obtaining their consent, their milk samples (from 650 donors) were collected early in the morning before feeding the infants.
Results. The mean Iodine of food in the north and south areas were similar (400 μg/d). The mean Iodine of human milk in the north was 13.55± 17.69 μg/100 and in the south was 14.38±29.36 μg/100 which was similar to another country (3-50 μg/100).
Conclusions. Therefore, like other countries (175 μg/d), iodine salt intake is strongly correlated with human milk iodide concentration, however, a significant relation exists between maternal iodine intake and the human milk iodide concentration. Thus, this must issue must be studied further because the intake of salts is exclusively iodized salt.