BACKGROUND:

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a major health problem worldwide and its prevalence in Saudi Arabia has reached 31.6%. Patients with diabetes mellitus are at an increased risk of thyroid disease. The purpose of this study was to examine the urinary excretion of iodine in type 2 DM (T2DM) patients, and to assess the clinical implication of iodine status on T2DM.

METHODS:

A total of 266 adult Saudis aged 18-55 years (109 T2DM patients and 157 healthy controls) were randomly selected from the Riyadh Cohort Study. Subjects were assessed for anthropometry, morning blood chemistries including fasting glucose, and lipid profile; serum concentrations of leptin, adiponectin, resistin, insulin, aPAI, hsCRP, Ang II, TNF-α, TSH, T3, T4, urine creatinine, urine iodine were measured using specific assays.

RESULTS:

The concentration of urine iodine was significantly lower in T2DM than in healthy control subjects (84.6±2.3 vs. 119.4±3.4, p<0.001), which remained significant after creatinine correction and controlling for age (p=0.01). Furthermore, urinary iodine is negatively correlated with waist, hips, SAD, glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR triglyceride, resistin, angiotensin II (Ang II), and CRP, while it was positively associated with TSH.

CONCLUSIONS:

The decreased levels of iodine concentration in T2DM patients and its likely deleterious effects on metabolic functions calls for a systematic approach to thyroid disease screening in diabetic patients. Routine annual urinary iodine determination is recommended and should target T2DM patients at risk of thyroid dysfunction.

© J. A. Barth Verlag in Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.