SERUM LIPOIDS AND PROTEINS IN HYPERTHYROIDISM 1

Abstract

The basal metabolic rate, serum cholesterol, lipid P, titrated fatty acids, total proteins, albumin, globulin and pathology of thyroid glands of 43 patients with symptoms of hyperthyroidism were studied. Blood studies were made before Lugols adm., after I but before thyroidectomy, 1-8 wks., and 4 or more mos. after operation. The level of serum lipids before I therapy was not related to the height of the basal metabolism and was of little value in predicting the degree of improvement after thyroidectomy. In 13 patients the cholesterol before Lugols was below 151 mg. %, the lower limit of the normal range. Complex factors other than the thyroid, such as extreme vasomotor instability and vegetative nervous system disorders, were considered in relation to the initial level of the cholesterol. After Lugols adm. the cholesterols in 34 of 37 patients increased 10 to 100 mg. %, and the basal metabolic rate of 34 of these 37 patients fell 7 to 65%. After thyroidectomy the cholesterols of all the 43 patients increased. The cholesterol of 11 patients rose sharply soon after thyroidectomy and then fell to a constant level 4 or more mos. after operation. The height of the rise was not related to the degree of improvement and recovery. Changes in cholesterol were accompanied by proportionate alterations in phosphatides and by somewhat less precise changes in fatty acids. No consistent changes in total proteins, albumin or globulin occurred during the adm. of I. The patients whose hyperthyroidism was clinically uncomplicated had glands that were uniformly hyperplastic and contained relatively small amts. of colloid. The patients whose clinical conditions were complicated had thyroids with variable histopathological pictures and less hyperplastic tissue.