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Iodine supplementation lowers Graves’ disease recurrence rates
Adults with newly diagnosed Graves’ disease who were treated with antithyroid drug therapy had a lower recurrence rate when treated with iodine supplementation after antithyroid drug therapy withdrawal compared with those assigned to iodine restriction, according to findings published in Clinical Endocrinology.
Huibin Huang, MD, of the department of endocrinology at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University in China, and colleagues evaluated adults with newly diagnosed Graves’ disease seen at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University between May 2011 and December 2013 to determine whether dietary iodine supplementation improves the prognosis of antithyroid drug therapy for Graves’ disease.
Participants were on antidrug therapy and strict dietary iodine restriction for 1 month and then randomly assigned to iodine supplementation (10 g iodized salt per day; n = 203; 61 men; mean age, 32.2 years) or iodine restriction (non-iodized salt and low-iodine or non-iodine diet; n = 202; 61 men; mean age, 31.9 years).
Every 3 months until treatment was stopped after 12 months, thyroid function was checked. After withdrawal of antithyroid drug therapy, participants were followed for another 12 months to determine Graves’ disease recurrence rate.
Within 12 months of antithyroid drug therapy withdrawal, average urinary iodine concentration was higher in the iodine supplementation group compared with the iodine-restricted group. No differences were observed between the two groups for thyroid function at 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.
The iodine supplementation group have a lower total recurrence rate compared with the iodine-restriction group (35.5% vs. 45.5%), with the cumulative recurrence rate falling by 38.1% in the supplementation group in the 12 months after antithyroid drug therapy withdrawal. – by Amber Cox
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.