Studies on changes of thyroid hormones in various liver diseases: usefulness of free thyroid hormones as liver...

Various thyroid parameters in liver disease which were morphologically diagnosed were measured, and their relationship to liver function was mainly studied. Serum T4 levels were elevated in acute hepatitis (AH), chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH) and chronic aggressive hepatitis (CAH) compared with in normal controls (C). Serum T3 levels were elevated in CAH and reduced in liver cirrhosis (LC). Serum reverse T3 (rT3) levels were elevated in AH and chronic liver diseases (CLD). T3/T4 ratios decreased in AH, CPH and CAH. RT3/T3 ratios increased in AH and CLD. Serum Free T3 (FT3) levels reduced in CLD in order of CPH, CAH and LC, and were low levels in AH with the same degree as LC. Moreover, serum FT3 levels revealed negative correlation with ICG-R15 and positive correlation with prothrombin time (PT) and serum albumin levels (Alb). Therefore serum FT3 level was considered to become a sensitive index of liver damage. Serum free T4 (FT4) levels did not change significantly in AH with high levels of transaminases and reduced in only LC. Therefore serum FT4 may become an index of severity of liver dysfunction. On the other hand, T3/T4 ratios and rT3/T3 ratios showed less correlation with liver function tests compared with free thyroid hormones.