Effects of high fluoride and iodine in drinking water on serum immune substance levels in children aged 8 to 10 years

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Hou Guoqiang, Chen Gan, Sun Ning, Zhang Li, Liu Yang, Hao Zongyu, Zheng Heming, Yang Jin, Yuan Chunsheng - "Effects of high fluoride and iodine in drinking water on serum immune substance levels in children aged 8 to 10 years" Contemporary Medicine 30:3-4 (2016) PFPC Library

Objective: To investigate the impact of elevated levels of fluoride and iodine in drinking water on serum interleukin-21 (IL-21) levels, as well as IgM and IgG contents in children aged 8-10 years under natural conditions.

Methods: A total of 90 children aged 8-10 years from natural villages with drinking water fluoride concentrations exceeding 2.0 mg/L and iodine median levels surpassing 150 mg/L were selected as the research group. For comparison, another 90 children from natural villages with drinking water fluoride concentrations below 1.0 mg/L and iodine median levels ranging from 50 to 80 mg/L were selected as the control group. Blood IL-21 levels and IgM and IgG contents were measured in both groups.

Results: The IL-21 measurement results for children in the study group ranged from 432.4 to 7,790.9 pg/mL, with a median of 912.01 pg/mL. In contrast, the control group showed results ranging from 302.3 to 4,324.8 pg/mL, with a median of 588.84 pg/mL. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.01). IgM content in the research group ranged from 1.11 to 4.02 mg/mL, while the control group exhibited a range of 0.78 to 3.54 mg/mL, with no statistically significant difference. For IgG content, the research group displayed a range of 8.81 to 19.98 mg/mL, with a median of 13.34 mg/mL. In the control group, the range was 7.14 to 20.46 mg/mL, with a median of 12.53 mg/mL. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Under natural conditions, elevated fluoride and iodine levels in drinking water are associated with a significant increase in IL-21 levels in 8-10-year-old children. This increase in IL-21 levels may suppress autoimmunity, resulting in a significant decrease in serum IgG content. However, there appears to be no significant effect on IgM content. These findings suggest that high levels of fluoride and iodine in drinking water may lead to reduced autoimmunity levels in children aged 8-10.