Low-iodine diet for producing iodine deficiency in rats

A low-iodine diet has been prepared for rats, using locally available low-iodine ingredients. On analysis it has been shown to consistently contain 15-20 ng iodine/g. When fed to growing female rats, this diet produced severe iodine deficiency while not significantly affecting growth or reproduction. The deficiency was manifested by a fall in daily urinary iodine excretion (to less than 1 microgram/day) and a seven-fold increase in thyroid uptake (131I) observable within 3 months. Levels of plasma thyroxine (T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) continued to change for 4-5 months, T4 falling from 69.9 to 7.5 nmol/l and TSH increasing seven-fold from a control value of 364 to 2406 ng/ml. Goitre was present in all iodine-deficient rats and iodine content in the thyroid was 10% of the control value.