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Mechanism of multi-organ compensation under different iodine intake in pregnant rats: results from a repeated-measures study of iodine metabolism

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to explore the differences in iodine metabolism and expression of NIS and Pendrin in pregnant rats under different iodine nutritional status.

Methods

Female Wistar rats were divided into four groups: low iodine (LI), normal iodine (NI), ten fold high iodine (10HI), and fifty fold high iodine (50HI). The intervention began after one week of adaptive feeding. Iodine metabolism experiments were performed beginning on the 15th day of pregnancy. 24-h iodine intake and excretion were calculated. The concentrations of iodine in urine, fecal, thyroid, and placenta were measured by ICP-MS. PCR and Western Blot were used to detect the mRNA levels and cell membrane protein of sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) and Pendrin in the small intestine, thyroid, kidney, and placenta.

Results

Fecal iodine excretion (FIE) and urinary iodine excretion (UIE) in the 50HI group were significantly higher than those in the NI group (P < 0.05). The NIS protein and mRNA in the kidney and small intestine have an upward trend in iodine deficiency and a downward trend in iodine excess. Thyroid and placental iodine storage in the 50HI group were significantly higher than those in the NI group (P < 0.05). NIS, Pendrin protein, and mRNA in the thyroid and placenta tend to increase when iodine is deficient and decrease when there is excess.

Conclusion

Iodine excretion and iodine stores in the placenta and thyroid gland are positively correlated with iodine intake. NIS and Pendrin are also regulated by iodine intake.

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Availability of data and materials

All data are available by reasonable request from the corresponding author.

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Funding

This work study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC Grant nos. 81920108031).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Food Science, School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300070, China

    Min Fu, Haixia Zhang, Yuanpeng Gao, Rui Yang, Qi Meng, Qi Jin, Yuxuan Qi, Nuo Shi & Wanqi Zhang

  2. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environment, Nutrition and Public Health, Center for International Collaborative Research on Environment, Nutrition and Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300070, China

    Min Fu, Haixia Zhang, Yuanpeng Gao, Rui Yang, Qi Meng, Qi Jin & Wanqi Zhang

  3. Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China

    Wanqi Zhang

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  1. Min Fu
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Contributions

WZ and MF contributed to the study conception and design. MF, HZ, YG, RY, QJ, QM, YQ, and NS performed the experiments. Data analysis was performed by MF, YG, and QM. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MF and YG. RY checks the manuscript. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wanqi Zhang.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical approval

The Tianjin Hospital of ITCWM Nankai Hospital Animal Ethics Committee approved all the experimental procedures (NKYY-DWLL-2021-048).

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Fu, M., Zhang, H., Gao, Y. et al. Mechanism of multi-organ compensation under different iodine intake in pregnant rats: results from a repeated-measures study of iodine metabolism. Eur J Nutr 63, 589–598 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-023-03288-5

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