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Diversion of Peripheral Thyroxine Metabolism from Activating to Inactivating Pathways During Complete Fasting

Dept. of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical Sch. Worcester, Mass
Dept. of Medicine, University of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland
University of Colorado Medical Sch. Denver, Colo.
Mt. Auburn Hospital and the Thorndike Laboratory of the Harvard Medical Sch. at the Beth Israel Hospital Boston, Mass.

In 9 euthyroid obese volunteers, as previously reported, 4 weeks of total caloric deprivation resulted in a striking decrease in serum 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T₃) concentration. The present studies reveal that this decrease in serum T₃ is accompanied by a proportionately similar increase in the serum concentration of 3,3',5'-T₃ (reverse T₃; rT₃). In four additional obese volunteers given suppressive doses of sodium-L-thyroxine (T₄) for 1 month prior to fasting, serum T₃ concentration declined sharply during a 6-11 day period of fast, while rT₃ concentration increased strikingly. Concentrations of both T₃ and rT₃ returned to control values during a 5 day period of refeeding. The findings indicate that caloric deprivation results in an alteration in peripheral T₄ metabolism away from generation of T₃ and toward the generation of rT₃. Since the former is more active than T₄, and the latter is essentially inactive, caloric deprivation appears to shunt peripheral T₄ metabolism from activating to inactivating pathways.

Received May 2, 1975.

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