Letter: Neonatal hyperthyroidism and long-acting thyroid stimulator protector.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to B R Smith.
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Thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins (T.S.I.) have been detected in the serum of all patients with untreated Graves' disease, and in these patients the levels of T.S.I. correlated significantly with the early uptake of 131I by the thyroid. The frequency of T.S.I. in patients treated solely by antithyroid drugs, by radioiodine, or by partial thyroidectomy was 53 per cent, 50 per cent, and 17 per cent, respectively. The reduced frequency of T.S.I. in the serum of patients treated by drugs or radioiodine was probably due to spontaneous remission, but in the case of partial thyroidectomy the operation itself clearly had a dramatic effect on the serum-T.S;I. These results accorded well with the reported frequency of thyroid autonomy in similar groups of patients and suggested that thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins were responsible for hyperthyroidism in Graves' disease.
Thyroid function in health is largely controlled by thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) produced by the thyrotroph cells of the anterior pituitary. Alterations of intrathyroidal iodine content may also be involved in autoregulation by the thyroid, particularly in states of iodine deficiency and excess (Ingbar, 1972). During pregnancy placental thyroid-stimulating agents-human chorionic thyrotrophin (HCT) and human molar thyrotrophin (HMT)-are produced. In the common variety of hyperthyroidism, Graves' disease, thyroid function appears to be regulated by thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins (TSI) (Smith & Hall, 1974a). Human molar thyrotrophin can be produced by trophoblastic tumours in both sexes and thyroid-stimulating factors have been reported to be released by malignant tumours of the gut and by bronchogenic carcinomas, although this is one of the rarest of the ectopic hormone syndromes.
Rat spermatozoa from the cauda epididymidis, freed from their cytoplasmic droplets and acrosomes, were found to have a lower lipid content and to incorporate [14C]glucose into their glycerides and glycerophosphatides at a lower rate than spermatozoa from the caput epididymidis. Against the background of the activities of some glycolytic enzymes which remained constant the activity of alkaline phosphatase decreased in spermatozoa migrating through the epididymis, whereas the activity of monoglyceride lipase increased. The corresponding enzyme activities of non-flagellate germ cells of the testis were measured for comparison. The triglyceride lipase of non-flagellate germ cells and of spermatozoa from both caput and cauda epididymidis was activated by cyclic 3':5'-AMP.
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