Abnormal thyroid hormone and thyrotropin levels in homozygous sickle cell disease

Male patients with SS disease had significantly lower T3 and higher TSH levels than a comparison group. Stimulation with TRH in 10 male sibling pairs showed highly significant increases in T3 and TSH in both patients and sibling controls although the increase in TSH was significantly greater in SS disease. The interpretation of these findings unclear although the thyroid indices indicate an abnormal pituitary-thyroid axis most consistent with a modest primary thyroid failure

Free and total triiodothyronine and thyroxine in malnourished Jamaican infants. The effect of diet on plasma levels of thyroid hormones, insulin and glucose during recovery

Plasma concentrations of free triiodothyronine (FT3), total triiodothyronine (TT3) and total thyroxine (TT4) were reduced to 63.0, 37.7, 61.7 per cent of controls respectively in protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), while free thyroxine (FT4) was elevated by 23 per cent. There was a gradual increase of both TT4 and TT3 during recovery. The ratio of free to bound hormones was high in malnutrition and declined with recovery, indicating a deficiency of thyroid-hormone binding in malnutrition. The observation of a significant reduction (P<0.05) in T3/T4 ratios, which occurred in malnutrition and was induced during recovery after 3 d on a low energy maintenance diet, suggested depressed conversion of T4 to T3 due to energy restriction. Energy restriction also significantly (P<0.001) depressed plasma insulin concentrations in the presence of nearly constant glucose levels. (AU)