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Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 68, No. 1 168-172
doi:10.1210/jcem-68-1-168
Copyright © 1989 by the Endocrine Society.
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Thyroid Hormone Economy in Response to Extreme Cold Exposure in Healthy Factory Workers*

MILJENKO SOLTER, KORNELIJE BRKIC, MARIJAN PETEK, LJUBICA POSAVEC and MLADEN SEKSO

Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Dr. M. Stojanouic University Hospital Zagreb, Yugoslavia

Address requests for reprints to: M. Solter, M.D., Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Dr. M. Stojanovic University Hospital, Vinogradska c 29, YU-41000 Zagreb, Yugoslavia.

The effects of cold exposure on serum total T4 (TT4), total T3 (TT3), free T4 (FT4), free T3 (FT3), rT3, TSH, T4-binding globulin (TBG), and T3 resin uptake were investigated in 82 euthyroid factory workers. Twenty-five workers (group 1) were exposed intermittently (~3.5 h daily) to extreme cold (–40 to –20 C) during the 8-h work shift, and 47 (group 2) were exposed to moderate cold (–10 to 8 C) for the entire 8 h. Ten individuals working at room temperature for the same period also were studied. After cold exposure, serum TT4 decreased in group 1 and did not change in group 2, whereas FT4 did not change in group 1 and increased in group 2. After exposure, serum TT3 and rT3 decreased significantly in both groups, while FT3 did not change in either. The basal serum TT4levels in groups 1 and 2 were significantly lower than those in the control group, whereas those of FT4 and FT3 were higher. Thus, cold exposure had opposite effects on total thyroid hormones and their free fractions, consistent with a cold-induced decrease in thyroid hormone-binding capacity. A postexposure decrease in serum TBG was found in women in group 2, but not in men in either group 2 or group 1, suggesting that factors other than decreased TBG are also involved. The results suggest the possibilities that 1) decreased thyroid hormone-binding capacity is an adaptive response to cold exposure, and/or 2) increased free thyroid hormone levels in response to cold exposure result in a new higher equilibrium between extracellular and intracellular FT4 and FT3.

* This work was supported by grants from Gavrilovic Meat Industries (Petrinja, Yugoslavia) and Croatian Council for Scientific Research Grant 1-08-03-08-08.

Received November 25, 1988.




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J C Sousa, G M. de Escobar, P Oliveira, M J Saraiva, and J A Palha
Transthyretin is not necessary for thyroid hormone metabolism in conditions of increased hormone demand
J. Endocrinol., November 1, 2005; 187(2): 257 - 266.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




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