Autoimmune Thyroiditis and Exposure to Iodine 131 in the Ukrainian Cohort Study of Thyroid Cancer and Other Thyroid Diseases After the Chornobyl Accident: Results from the First Screening Cycle (1998-2000)

Context: Due to the Chornobyl accident, millions were exposed to radioactive isotopes of iodine and some received appreciable iodine 131 (131I) doses. A subsequent increase in thyroid cancer has been largely attributed to this exposure, but evidence concerning autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) remains inconclusive.

Objective: The objective of the study was to quantify risk of AIT after 131I exposure.

Design/setting/participants: Baseline data were collected from the first screening cycle (1998-2000) of a large cohort of radiation-exposed individuals (n = 12,240), residents of contaminated, iodine-deficient territories of Ukraine. Study individuals were under the age of 18 yr on April 26, 1986, and had thyroid radioactivity measurements made shortly after the accident.

Outcomes: AIT was defined a priori based on various combinations of elevated antibodies to thyroid peroxidase (ATPO), TSH, and clinical findings; elevated ATPO were considered to be an indicator of thyroid autoimmunity.

Results: No significant association was found between 131I thyroid dose estimates and AIT, but prevalence of elevated ATPO demonstrated a modest, significant association with 131I that was well described by several concave models. This relationship was apparent in individuals with moderately elevated ATPO and euthyroid, thyroid disease-free individuals.

Conclusions: Twelve to 14 yr after the Chornobyl accident, no radiation-related increase in prevalence of AIT was found in a large cohort study, the first in which 131I thyroid doses were estimated using individual radioactivity measurements. However, a dose-response relationship with ATPO prevalence raises the possibility that clinically important changes may occur over time. Thus, further follow-up and analysis of prospective data in this cohort are necessary.