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Elevated Basal and Abnormal Thyrotropin‐Releasing Hormone‐Induced Thyroid‐Stimulating Hormone Secretion in Chronic Alcoholic Men with Liver Disease
Author(s) -
Thiel David H. Van,
Smith William I.,
Wight Carl,
Abuid Juan
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1979.tb05327.x
Subject(s) - medicine , endocrinology , basal (medicine) , hormone , thyrotropin releasing hormone , thyroid , alcoholic liver disease , ingestion , stimulation , thyroid stimulating hormone , cirrhosis , insulin
Basal levels of serum thyroid‐stimulating hormone (TSH). T 3 , T 4 , free T 3 and free T 4 were measured in 40 chronic alcoholic men and in 31 normal volunteers. Their serum TSH responses to provocative thyrotropin‐releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation were then examined serially: in chronic alcoholics, every 5 days for a total of 3 studies; in 25 of the normal volunteers, before and 72 hr after daily ingestion of ethanol (2 cc/kg/day). Basal serum TSH levels were increased in the alcoholic men (3.5 ± 0.2 μU/ml) (mean ± SEM) compared to those of the normal controls (1.7 ± 0.1) ( p < 0.01). Both basal serum T 3 and T 4 levels (T 3 , 0.89 ± 0.10 ng/ml; T 4 , 7.0 ± 0.4 μg/dl) were reduced in the alcoholic men when compared to those of the normal controls (T 3 ,1.20 ± 0.03 ng/ml; T 4 , 8.6 ± 0.3 μg/dl) ( p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). Basal serum free T 3 levels were reduced in the alcoholic men (169 ± 22 pg/dl) compared to the normal controls (380 ± 18) ( p < 0.01). In contrast, basal serum free T 4 levels were increased in the alcoholics (4.0 ± 0.2 ng/dl) compared to those of the normal controls (2.9 ± 0.1) ( p < 0.01). In response to TRH, the serum TSH levels of the alcoholic men achieved a peak of 13.5 ± 0.9 μU/ml compared to 14.9 ± 0.9 for the normal controls (no significant difference). Despite better nutrition and alcohol abstinence associated with hospitalization for 10 days, no improvement in either the basal levels of TSH, T 3 , and T 4 or the TSH responses to provocative TRH was observed in the alcoholic men studied. In normal volunteers, ethanol had no effect on the basal or TRH‐stimulated levels of serum TSH and thyroid hormones.