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THE EFFECT OF SALICYLATE ON THE PLASMA PROTEIN‐BOUND IODINE LEVEL IN VARIOUS STATES OF ENDOCRINE DISORDER IN MAN
Author(s) -
HETZEL BASIL S.,
GOOD BRIAN F.,
WELLBY MAURICE L.,
BEGG MALCOLM W.
Publication year - 1962
Publication title -
australasian annals of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0571-9283
DOI - 10.1111/imj.1962.11.1.34
Subject(s) - medicine , endocrinology , thyroid , iodine , cortisone , endocrine system , hormone , thyroid function , depression (economics) , sodium salicylate , chemistry , organic chemistry , economics , macroeconomics
Summary The effect of salicylate on the plasma protein‐bound iodine (PBI) level has been compared in patients with various states of thyroid, adrenal and pituitary gland function. The salicylate was administered in a dosage of 6 grammes daily for four days as the calcium acetyl salt. This dosage produced a consistent fall in plasma PBI level in normal subjects (mean levels of 6·0 μg. per 100 ml. before, fell to 4·5 μg. per 100 ml. after four days on salicylate therapy). In comparison with six normal subjects, a significant but smaller fall in plasma PBI level was found in a group of six hypothyroid subjects maintained on desiccated thyroid (mean levels of 5·7 μg. per 100 ml. before, fell to 5·1 μg. per 100 ml. after four days on salicylate therapy). Taken in conjunction with other evidence, this finding suggests that salicylate is inhibiting thyroid secretion via thyrotropic hormone (TSH) depression in the normal subjects and also altering the peripheral distribution of thyroid hormone in both groups. In eight untreated hyperthyroid subjects, a significant fall in plasma PBI level (proportionately greater than in the normal group) was also noted (mean levels of 13·9 μg. per 100 ml. before, fell to 9·6 μg. per 100 ml. after salicylate therapy). This observation indicates the susceptibility of the hyperthyroid gland to TSH depression. In two hypoadrenal patients maintained on cortisone, in two patients with hypothalamic lesions and in one acromegalic, responses similar to those observed in normal subjects were found. In another patient with a chromophobe adenoma of the pituitary and mild hypothyroidism, no fall was observed : this could be due to some interference with TSH secretion by the tumour. The possibility that these effects of salicylate on the plasma PBI level may be due to alterations in plasma binding of thyroid hormones is considered, but this hypothesis does not account for all the findings in hyperthyroidism. The possibility remains that salicylate has a direct effect on TSH secretion.