Background: Low iodine intake may be a modifiable risk factor for reduced survival among Kidney Transplant Recipients (KTR). Therefore, we performed sex-stratified analyses to examine whether inadequate iodine intake and low 24-hour urinary iodine excretion are associated with increased mortality. Methods: Adult KTR from the Transplant Lines Food and Nutrition Biobank and Cohort Study were included and compared to healthy controls. Associations between 24-hour urinary iodine intake (continuous and classified as inadequate 0.05). Conclusions: KTR have lower urinary iodine excretion compared to healthy controls, and more frequently fell below the threshold for inadequate iodine intake, particularly among women. Inadequate iodine intake was independently associated with an increased mortality in female, but not in male KTR, underscoring a potential sex-specific vulnerability. These findings support further investigation into whether improving iodine status could reduce mortality, particularly among female KTR.
Veen et al. (Mon,) studied this question.