Evaluation of iodine and selenium level and thyroid functions in patients with cystic fibrosis

Edip Unal; Enes Arıca; Funda Feryal Taş; Barış Kolbaşı; Nurcan Beyazıt; İbrahim Kaplan; Suat Savaş; Velat Şen

doi:10.1515/jpem-2024-0566

Article

Evaluation of iodine and selenium level and thyroid functions in patients with cystic fibrosis

Edip Unal , Enes Arıca , Funda Feryal Taş , Barış Kolbaşı , Nurcan Beyazıt , İbrahim Kaplan , Suat Savaş and Velat Şen

Published/Copyright: January 17, 2025

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From the journal Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Volume 38 Issue 3

Abstract

Objectives

There is limited research on thyroid function in pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis (pwCF). This study aimed to determine the frequency of thyroid dysfunction in children and adolescents with CF and to evaluate iodine deficiency and selenium status in pwCF.

Methods

Sixty-two CF patients and 62 control subjects were evaluated. The anthropometric measurements, nutritional status, FEV1(Forced-expiratory-volume in 1 s) percentage, thyroid function tests (TSH, FT4, FT3), urinary iodine and selenium levels, hospitalization status in the last six months, antibiotic usage, and colonization status with staphylococcus or pseudomonas were assessed for the cases.

Results

The mean age of the patient group was 10.84 ± 4.04 years. All CF patients were receiving multivitamin supplementation. Malnutrition was present in 50 % of patients, bacterial colonization in 29 %, FEV1 decrease in 38.5 %, subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) in 12.9 %, iodine deficiency in 87 % and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in 100 %. T3 levels were found to be higher in pwCF. No significant difference was found between malnutrition and FEV1 and urinary iodine and selenium levels. Compared to the control group, pwCF had lower urinary iodine levels.

Conclusions

To the best of our knowledge, our study is one of the few in the literature to investigate urinary selenium levels alongside iodine in PwCF. Further research is needed to clarify and interpret elevated urinary selenium levels in this context. It was shown that iodine deficiency and the rate of SH were relatively high in pwCF. However, it was still thought that correcting iodine deficiency in these patients could improve thyroid dysfunction associated with CF.

Keywords: cystic fibrosis; iodine; selenium; thyroid dysfunction

Corresponding author: Edip Unal, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Türkiye, E-mail: edip76@yahoo.com

Research ethics: The study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Dicle University Faculty of Medicine (document number: 25/02/2021/53).
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
Conflict of interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.
Research funding: None declared.
Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2024-11-26

Accepted: 2025-01-06

Published Online: 2025-01-17

Published in Print: 2025-03-26

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2024-0566

Keywords for this article

cystic fibrosis; iodine; selenium; thyroid dysfunction