Influence of nutritional state on the disposal of orally and intramuscularly administered iodized oil to iodine repleted older children and adult women

Abstract

Iodinated oil (Ethiodol, 1 or 2 ml) was administered po or by im administration to adult women and older children in rural highland Ecuador who were either well nourished or malnourished to determine the effect of nutritional status on the disposal rate of iodine. These subjects resides in a region previously severely deficient in iodine, but this had been corrected in these subjects by prior administration of iodinated oil or by use of iodized salt or both. Malnutrition as determined by the conventional standards of height for age was associated with a significantly shortened retention time of the administered iodine, whether given po or im. The half life of retention was approximately half in the malourished of that in the well nourished. If these findings can be extrapolated to chronically iodine deficient subjects, then malnourished populations in need of iodine supplementation should either receive higher dosages than those conventionally employed or more frequent dosage.

A Reconceptualization of the Effects of Undernutrition on Children's Biological, Psychosocial, and Behavioral Development and commentaries

“…Maternal iodine deficiency in early pregnancy and associated thyroxine deficiency impair the development of the fetal central nervous system and can result in frank, irreversible cretinism in the child. Studies in Ecuador (Fierro-Benitez et al, 1989;Trowbridge, 1972) showed that correction of the maternal iodine deficiency before conception or in early pregnancy can improve the mental performance of offspring. Comparisons of primary school children in China, in areas with iodine deficiency versus areas with normal iodine intake (Ma, Wang, Wang, Chen, & Chi, 1989) and of goitrous vs. non-goitrous children in Chile (Muzzo, Levia, & Carrasco, 1987) showed better mental and psychomotor performance in the latter groups.…”