Goiter prevalence, serum selenium, and urine iodine status in a previously iodine-deficient area in Turkey.

This study was planned to investigate goiter prevalence and serum selenium and urine iodine status among school-age children in the Ankara region of Turkey. Nine hundred five (905) children were investigated; 847 of them were included in the study. Thyroid ultrasound was performed on children who were suspected of being goitrous at physical examination. Serum TSH, thyroxine, triiodotyronine, thyroid antibody, and urine iodine concentrations (UIC) are also measured. Ultrasound measurements revealed a goiter in 107 (12.6%) of the 847 children. Goiter prevalence was significantly lower among iodized-salt users compared to the noniodized salt using group. UIC and serum selenium levels in the goitrous group were significantly lower compared to the nongoitrous group. Despite legally enforced table salt iodization, the region shows the characteristics of mild iodine deficiency. In addition to lower UIC, goitrous children have lower serum selenium levels compared to the nongoitrous ones. Thus, selenium deficiency plays an important role in goiter endemics in Turkey. It can be postulated that table salt iodization might not be enough for the preventive measures of goiter, but informing people about the correct ways of iodized salt consumption, enforcing the iodization of industrial salts, and, as important as these measures, taking selenium deficiency into consideration are essential for preventing goiters in endemic areas.

Plasma and erythrocyte vitamin E levels in children with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Vitamin E is considered to be one of the most important antioxidants. There is a trend today to supply diabetic children with vitamin E in order to prevent microvascular complications. In this study, our objective was to demonstrate validity of plasma and erythrocyte vitamin E levels in diabetic children. This study was conducted on twenty-five diabetic patients aged from 7-16 years and ten non-diabetic, age-matched healthy subjects as the control group. Vitamin E levels were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. There was no significant difference between the mean plasma vitamin E levels of diabetic and control groups, 870.80 +/- 220.51 micrograms/dl and 891 +/- 221.21 micrograms/dl, respectively (p > 0.05). The mean erythrocyte vitamin E levels of diabetic and control groups were significantly different: 183.12 +/- 62.58 micrograms/dl and 246.90 +/- 68.26 micrograms/dl, respectively (p < 0.05). Erythrocyte vitamin E levels were significantly lower than plasma vitamin E levels in both groups. We further investigated whether a correlation exists between plasma and erythrocyte vitamin E levels and duration of diabetes, insulin dose and HbA1c measurements. However no correlation was found. In conclusion, measurement of erythrocyte vitamin E levels may be considered to be more valuable than plasma vitamin E levels in diabetic children and supplementation may be provided according to erythrocyte levels rather than plasma levels.