SERUM THYROID HORMONES IN APPARENTLY HEALTHY CAMEROONIAN IN DOUALA, AN URBAN INDUSTRIALISED AREA

His study was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of iodized salt consumption in a selected group of healthy subjects living in the city of Douala, Cameroon. The thyroid status was studied by estimating total serum level of T3 (tT3), T4 (tT4), and TSH using Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) technique. One hundred and fifty one healthy free living subjects aged between 18 and 45 years comprising 70 males and 81, females were used for the study. The result showed that 63.16 % of subjects were euthyroid and 36.84% remaining were not normal according to our reference ranges (1.4 -3.4 ŋg/ml for T3, 0.7-1.8 ŋg/ml for T4 and 0.5-4.5 UI/ml for TSH). Some of them showed untreated primary hypothyroidism, pituitary myxodema but none were affected by secondary hyperthyroidism. T3/T4 ratio was significantly higher in female than in male (P< 0.001). Serum thyroid hormones levels were affected by age and gender. We found that the populations living in Douala, an urban area nearby the iodized salt factories in Cameroon are not at the risk of iodine disorders.