Variability of iodine concentrations in the human placenta

Iodine is an essential trace element, necessary for the production of thyroid hormones, which play a key role in optimal foetal growth and (neuro-) development. To date, iodine deficiency remains a health burden in many countries. We investigated the variability of placental iodine concentrations within and between individuals. We used 20 mother-neonate pairs from the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort, took samples at three standardized locations of the placentas, pooled and digested them, and determined the iodine concentrations using an ICP-MS method as an alternative for the Sandell-Kolthoff method. The variability between and within the three sample regions was calculated using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) from the variance components of mixed models. With the Friedman test, the differences between placental biopsies were assessed. The ICC showed a higher between-placenta (68.6%) than within-placenta (31.4%) variability. Subsequently, we used our optimized method to determine iodine concentrations in 498 mother-neonate pairs, which averaged 26.1 μg/kg. For 96 mothers, the urinary iodine concentrations were also determined, which showed no correlation with the placental iodine storage, as was expected. Future studies are necessary to explore the effects of these placental iodine concentrations in relation to health outcomes of mother and child at birth and later in life.