Iodine deficiency, iodine requirement and iodine excess of farm animals--experiments on growing pigs

Since insufficient iodine intake is widespread among the German population, farm animals should if possible receive iodine above requirement, thus concentrating the trace element in milk, eggs and possibly meat. Experiments with a total of 29 fattening pigs with grain soy-bean meal diets without iodine supplementation or with increasing supplements up to 1000 micrograms iodine/kg diet did not show any effect on growth intensity (gain) and feed efficiency. At and above 125 micrograms supplementary iodine/kg diet the thyroid was not or only little hypertrophied and iodine incorporation into thyroglobulin sufficed to sustain serum T4 concentration. The glucosinolates of rape feeds increase iodine requirement. In an experiment with a total of 36 fattening pigs the thyroid iodine depot was decreased due to rapeseed meal feeding, this in agreement with antithyroid drugs which had been also tested. A thyroid with emptied iodine depot is hardly able to synthesize and release hormone, the serum thyroxine concentration showed a drastic decrease. More iodine may compensate for effects of glucosinolates, however, only with not too much of these compounds in the feed. Excessive iodine dosages (10 mg/kg diet) were compared with supplements in the range of recommendations (100 and 1000 micrograms/kg diet) with a total of 120 pigs in three groups of 40 animals each. The dosage of 10 mg iodine/kg diet decreased serum T3 concentration. The enlarged thyroid with double weight had a very high iodine concentration. In comparison with physiological application (100 or 1000 micrograms iodine/kg diet) the thyroid deposited only little iodine in the group with the excessive iodine intake related to consumed iodine quantity. In case of sufficient and excessive iodine supply--industry of compounds feed applies up to 2.5 mg supplementary iodine/kg diet--T4 and iodine of serum but also thyroid weight cannot serve as markers. This range of usual iodine supply is better characterized by the iodine depot of the thyroid. As a rule, thyroid weight increase indicates glucosinolate effects, generally those of dietary antithyroid compounds, more seldom it shows extreme and longterm iodine undersupply or iodine excess.