Risks of the Insulin Resistance Development in Conditions of Pre- and Postnatal Iodine Deficiency

The aim of the article is to study the peculiarities of carbohydrate metabolism in rats in pre- and postnatal iodine deficiency, with a gender-based analysis. Materials and methods. The indices of thyroid homeostasis and carbohydrate metabolism were determined in animals born after natural mating from rats being on an iodine-deficient diet for at least two months from the moment they’ve reached a weight of 150±15 g, and throughout the gestational period of females (prenatal iodine deficiency) being on a diet with a limited iodine content from birth, and in rats that were on such a diet for two months at sexual maturity (postnatal iodine deficiency). The animals in the control group were fed according to a standard vivarium diet. Results. The experimental animals exhibited hypothyroid dysfunction, accompanied by more significant disturbances of the pituitary-thyroid axis under conditions of prenatal iodine deficiency. In both males and females being on an iodine-deficient diet in the second generation, there was observed an increase in fasting serum glucose levels at 27% and 18% (p<0.05), glycated haemoglobin in whole blood – at 18% and 16% (p<0.05), and HOMA-IR index – at 46% and 27% (p<0.05), compared to control values. Under the conditions of postnatal iodine deficiency, there was observed a tendency towards an increase in serum glucose and, to a greater extent, glycated haemoglobin in whole blood. The findings of this study suggest a high risk of developing insulin resistance, particularly in conditions of congenital iodine deprivation in animals, irrespective of gender. Conclusions. The maintenance of rats on an iodine-deficient diet over two generations is accompanied by the development of hypothyroid dysfunction concomitant with the development of insulin resistance (characterised by hyperglycaemia, hyperinsulinaemia, an increase in glycated haemoglobin and HOMA-IR index in relation to the control data).