SERUM HORMONAL IODINE VALUES DURING AND FOLLOWING PREGNANCY IN THE MONKEY (MACACA MULATTA)

Abstract

SUMMARY 1. Serial butanol extractable iodine (BEI) determinations were performed on the sera of fifty-one healthy pregnant and non-pregnant female monkeys (Macaca mulatta) over a period of 18 consecutive months. 2. The mean serum BEI value for non-pregnant monkeys was 3·5 ± 0·8 μg./100 ml. Monthly variations from the mean were not significant. Each animal demonstrated serial BEI values about a mean specific for that animal. 3. An apparent rise in BEI values was observed 22–35 days following conception and continued during the first 120 days of pregnancy; thereafter, values tended to remain level until shortly before term when they dropped slightly. A transient elevation was frequently observed during the first 5 days following delivery, after which the values dropped rapidly and reached control levels by 35 days post partum.