Aims:

To use GWAS data to identify genetic variation that influences maternal iodine status, as measured by urinary iodine-to-creatinine ratio. We would then aim to extrapolate this to evaluate if there is an interaction between iodine status, SNPs in relevant pathways and child outcome data.

We have hypothesised that our observed association between maternal iodine status and child cognition is driven by maternal thyroid hormones, which are required for fetal brain and neurological development, and a sufficient iodine supply is required for thyroid hormone production. However, we did not have maternal thyroid measures in the pilot study and therefore wish to confirm the relationships between iodine and thyroid function.

We wish to investigate the relationships between maternal iodine and selenium status. We will then include selenium in the model with iodine status and child cognition to evaluate if maternal selenium influences the obvserved relationships in the pilot study.

We also aim to use ALSPAC dietary data and iodine status measures in pregnancy to develop a screening tool that could be used in a clinical setting to identify women who are at risk of iodine deficiency. The dietary data in ALSPAC would be analysed to establish dietary patterns that protect women from iodine deficiency and thus provide the data for a risk screening tool. This screening tool will be developed in combination with data from another UK study (SPRINT - a selenium intervention study that has baseline measures of iodine status and thyroid function), allowing the tool to be tested in different groups and populations.