Application of Thyroid Hormone Profiles in Nutritional Diagnosis of Hypothyroid-Like Syndrome in West African Dwarf Goats in Cross River State, South South Nigeria

Hypothyroid-like syndrome characterised by poor growth, lethargy, and reproductive failure in goats may have a nutritional basis involving iodine deficiency or goitrogenic plant toxins rather than primary thyroid pathology. This study applied thyroid hormone profiling as a nutritional diagnostic tool in West African Dwarf goats exhibiting hypothyroid-like clinical signs in Cross River State, South South Nigeria. Sixty goats from two farms exhibiting clinical syndrome and twenty healthy controls from a reference farm with no clinical abnormalities were enrolled. Serum triiodothyronine, thyroxine, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and serum iodine concentrations were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Feed samples were evaluated for goitrogenic content and iodine concentrations. Affected goats had significantly reduced triiodothyronine and thyroxine with elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone, confirming peripheral hypothyroidism. Serum iodine was below the reference threshold in sixty-three of eighty goats across both affected farms. Feed samples from affected farms contained high levels of cyanogenic glucosides from cassava by-products incorporated into rations, which likely interfered with thyroid iodine uptake. Iodine supplementation in drinking water combined with cassava by-product reduction in the diet resolved clinical signs and restored thyroid hormone profiles within eight weeks. This study demonstrates the diagnostic utility of thyroid hormone profiling in identifying nutritional hypothyroidism in goats and supporting targeted dietary correction in South South Nigeria. Keywords: thyroid hormones, hypothyroidism, iodine deficiency, goats, Cross River State.