0000000000247880

AUTHOR

N Custro

Relapses of hyperthyroidism in patients treated with radioiodine for nodular toxic goiter: relation to thyroid autoimmunity.

Relapses of hyperthyroidism after treatment with radioiodine for uni- or multi-nodular goiter may be accompanied by the appearance of TSAb. However, this phenomenon has only emerged from one retrospective study on Northern European patients, in which it was not possible to determine whether TSAb also appeared in treated patients who did not relapse. The present study aimed to assess the appearance, immunogenic nature and clinical characteristics of hyperthyroidism relapse after treatment with 131I for nodular toxic goiter in patients from the Mediterranean area. A retrospective study was performed on 76 consecutive patients, born and resident in Sicily and aged 56-80 yr at diagnosis, who we…

research product

Alterations in circadian rhythm of serum thyrotropin in critically ill patients.

To evaluate the 24-h pattern of serum thyrotropin (TSH) in critically ill patients, we measured serum concentrations of TSH in blood samples collected every 2 h for 24 h from nine patients (six with malignancy, two with liver cirrhosis, one with chronic renal failure), who had subnormal levels of both triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), in the absence of history, symptoms or signs of thyroid disease. Analysis of the data, performed using a second-order inferential statistical methodology for rhythmometry (cosinor method), demonstrated that critically ill patients still had daily oscillations of serum TSH which significantly adapted to the function approximating the circadian rhythms (…

research product

Pituitary resistance to thyroid hormone action with preserved circadian rhythm of thyrotropin in a postmenopausal woman.

We assessed the 24-h behavior of circulating TSH and the dopaminergic control on TSH release in a postmenopausal woman, who had elevated levels of serum thyroid hormones and an inappropriately high concentration of serum TSH, indicating pituitary resistance to thyroid hormone action. The patient was found to have a daily profile of serum TSH similar to that of normal subjects, except for the persistently elevated 24 h levels, suggesting that alterations in thyroid hormone negative feedback control did not affect substantially circadian TSH rhythm. The acute administration of a dopamine antagonist drug (metoclopramide) resulted in a markedly elevated peak of serum TSH, similar both in the mo…

research product

Deficient pulsatile thyrotropin secretion in the low-thyroid-hormone state of severe non-thyroidal illness

Custro N, Scafidi V, Gallo S, Notarbartolo A. Deficient pulsatile thyrotropin secretion in the low-thyroid-hormone state of severe non-thyroidal illness. Eur J Endocrinol 1994;130:132–6. ISSN 0804–4643. Twenty-four-hour thyrotropin (TSH) profiles in eight severely ill patients were compared with those of six healthy subjects. The profiles were assessed using the cosinor method to evaluate circadian variations and using the Pulsar algorithm to analyze episodic secretion. In the normal subjects, the typical periodicity of TSH secretion showed a mean level in the rhythm (mesor) of 2.03 mU/l, The amplitude (half the extent of rhythmic change in the cycle) was 0.58 mU/l; the acrophase (the delay…

research product

Subclinical hypothyroidism resulting from autoimmune thyroiditis in female patients with endogenous depression.

Thyroid function and presence of thyroid autoantibodies were assessed in a group of 75 consecutive female patients with mood disturbances and in a group of 38 healthy women of similar age recruited as controls. Nine patients suffered from major (endogenous) depression and 66 from minor (neurotic) depression. The individual patients had normal values of circulating thyroid hormones. Nevertheless, endogenously depressed patients had total serum triiodothyronine (M±SE=1.49±0.09 nmol/l) and both total (83.9±4.3 nmol/l) and free serum thyroxine (13.9±1.1 pmol/l) lower than in the group of minor depressed and in the group of controls (p<0.01, in both comparison). The median value of serum thyrotr…

research product

Prospective study on thyroid autoimmunity and dysfunction related to chronic hepatitis C and interferon therapy.

This study was designed to assess patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) for the presence of thyroid autoimmunity and dysfunction, to evaluate the risk of thyroid disorders associated with interferon (IFN) therapy, and to survey the outcome of possible treatment-related thyroid injury. Out of 104 consecutive untreated patients (30 women and 74 men; mean age, 52.7 years), 8 (7.7%) were found seropositive for thyroid autoantibodies (ThyAb), whereas seropositivity in healthy controls was 1/98 (1.3%). The relative increase in risk of developing thyroid autoimmunity associated with CHC was 760% (95% Cl, 220–1300%). No patients had abnormalities of thyroid function tests, but on IFN treatment, 3…

research product

Evidence of Transient IgA Anti-Endomysial Antibody Positivity in a Patient with Graves’ Disease

&lt;i&gt;Background:&lt;/i&gt; Anti-endomysial antibodies (EmA) have been shown to have a high specificity and sensitivity in celiac disease (CD) diagnosis, and their use is considered effective in improving the diagnostic accuracy of CD screening. &lt;i&gt;Aims:&lt;/i&gt; To report the clinical details of transient IgA EmA positivity in a patient with Graves’ disease. &lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt; We screened 48 patients (7 males, age range 19–79, median 58.3 years) for CD. They were hospitalized for thyroid disorders (30 patients had autoimmune hypothyroidism and 18 had Graves’ disease with clinical hyperthyroidism associated with diffuse goitre). CD screening was carried out on all patient…

research product