Iodine and creatinine testing in urine dried on filter paper.

Iodine deficiency is a world-wide health problem. A simple, convenient, and inexpensive method to monitor urine iodine levels would have enormous benefit in determining an individual's recent iodine intake or in identifying populations at risk for iodine deficiency or excess. Current methods used to monitor iodine levels require collection of a large volume of urine and its transport to a testing laboratory, both of which are inconvenient and impractical in parts of the world lacking refrigerated storage and transportation. To circumvent these limitations we developed and validated methods to collect and measure iodine and creatinine in urine dried on filter paper strips. We tested liquid urine and liquid-extracted dried urine for iodine and creatinine in a 96-well format using Sandell-Kolthoff and Jaffe reactions, respectively. Our modified dried urine iodine and creatinine assays correlated well with established liquid urine methods (iodine: R(2)=0.9483; creatinine: R(2)=0.9782). Results demonstrate that the dried urine iodine and creatinine assays are ideal for testing the iodine status of individuals and for wide scale application in iodine screening programs.