Iodine nutrition and thyroid autoantibodies in pregnancy and their relation to thyroid function

Electrochemiluminescence was used to determine thyroid function and thyroid autoantibodies in 140 pregnant women,who were then divided into normal group (n =117) and subclinical hypothyroidism group (n =23) based on the thyroid function.The urine iodine level in the pregnant women was detected by arsenic cerium catalytic spectrophotometric method.The awareness of past history of thyroid disease among the subjects with thyroid dysfunctions were investigated.The results showed that the prevalences of iodine deficiency were 50％ and 57％ in the normal group and the subclinical hypothyroidism group,respectively.The state of iodine level was not related to thyroid function.The levels of serum thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) and thyroglobulin antibody were markedly related to serum TSH(P＜0.01),so was the level of serum TPOAb related to serum FT4 (P＜0.05).Among the subclinical hypothyroidism women,70％ did not undergo thyroid function and thyroid autoantibodies screening before pregnancy,8.7％ denied past history of thyroid disease,and 21.7％ suffered from hypothyroidism before pregnancy.Therefore,we advocate the screening of urine iodine and thyroid autoantibodies before or during the first trimester of pregnancy,aiming to correct iodine deficiency,avoid supplementing too much iodine,improve the outcome of perinatal stage,and reduce all the negative effects on the offsprings. Key words: Pregnancy ;  Thyroid function ;  Thyroid autoantibodies;  Urine iodine