Histopathological study on rats fed iodine-enriched eggs long-term (7 and 19 months)

A histopathological study was conducted on rats fed on a diet containing iodine-enriched eggs over the long term, 7 and 19 months. A laboratory powder chow was added at the 1% (w/w) level with ordinary egg powder (ordinary egg diet as control: 35 micrograms iodine/100 g diet) or iodine-enriched egg powder (iodine-enriched egg diet: 392 micrograms iodine/100 g diet). The animals were meal-fed twice a day and allowed unrestricted voluntary wheel-running. In general, organs, tissues and endocrine glands including thyroid glands from rats of the iodine-enriched egg diet group exhibited no significant difference in histopathological features as compared with those of the ordinary egg diet group. These results suggest that long-term feeding of a considerable amount of iodine through an iodine-enriched egg diet did not cause any specific excess-iodine toxicity.