Goitrogenic Action of Calcium and Vitamin D

Abstract

The purpose of these experiments was to determine whether calcium could be classed as a goitrogenic substance. When other factors are kept constant, all of the evidence indicates that it does not influence the size of the thyroid gland. However, along with vitamin D calcium chloride can act as a goitrogenic agent. While the mechanism of this action cannot be absolutely determined from these experiments, the results suggest that chloride causes some loss of iodine which is followed by an increase in thyroid weight when an excess of calcium is absorbed.