Effect of iodine deficiency on craniofacial growth in young common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus).

The effects of iodine deficiency on general and craniofacial growth were determined in young common marmosets. Examinations, including direct measurement, cephalometric radiology, and dental examination, were performed at three-month intervals from birth to 1 year on a cross-sectional sample of three groups of marmosets. The groups were those on a normal diet, n = 50; an iodine-deficient diet during gestation and for 1 year postnatally, n = 26; and an iodine-deficient diet only during gestation (returned to a normal diet at 1 month after birth), n = 18. The iodine-deficient animals were smaller in all dimensions, compared with controls, but they did not have typical cretin facies. Animals that were iodine deficient during gestation but subsequently fed a normal diet were small initially but displayed compensatory growth, so that by 1 year they were nearly normal in size.