This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 92/8/3330    most recent Author Manuscript (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mebis, L. Articles by Van den Berghe, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mebis, L. Articles by Van den Berghe, G. Related Collections Thyroid Metabolism

The Type II Iodothyronine Deiodinase Is Up-Regulated in Skeletal Muscle during Prolonged Critical Illness

Department of Intensive Care Medicine (L.M., L.L., G.V.d.B.), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium; and Department of Internal Medicine (T.J.V.), Erasmus University Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Greet Van den Berghe, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Catholic University of Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail: greet.vandenberghe{at}med.kuleuven.be.

Context: Critical illness is associated with the low T₃ syndrome_. It remains unclear whether altered type II deiodinase activity (D2) in skeletal muscle contributes to this syndrome.

Objective: Our objective was to study D2 expression and activity in skeletal muscle of acute and prolonged critically ill patients.

Design and Setting: We conducted a clinical observational study in acute and prolonged critical illness with comparison with healthy controls at a university hospital surgical intensive care unit.

Patients: Subjects included 63 prolonged critically ill patients who died in the intensive care unit, 21 acutely ill patients, and 38 controls matched for age, gender, and body mass index.

Results: Elevated expression of the D2 gene and D2 activity in skeletal muscle of prolonged, but not acute, critically ill patients were observed in the face of low circulating thyroid hormone levels.

Conclusions: Reduced D2 activity does not appear to play a role in the pathogenesis of the low T₃ syndrome of critical illness.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J Kwakkel, O Chassande, H C van Beeren, W M Wiersinga, and A Boelen Lacking thyroid hormone receptor {beta} gene does not influence alterations in peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism during acute illness J. Endocrinol., April 1, 2008; 197(1): 151 - 158. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]