Radiation dosimetry of radioiodinated thyroid hormones

A physiologically based compartmental model for T4 and T3 metabolism in man was used to generate time-activity curves for residence of radioiodine in key organs. T4 and T3 labeled with 123I, 124I, 125I, and 131I were studied. Conditions modeled included radioactive iodine uptake (RAIU) values of 0%, 1%, 5%, 15% and 25%, and RAIU of 15% combined with various degrees of pharmacologic block of thyroidal RAIU. Using the MIRD "S" tables, rad doses were generated for each condition. While the shapes of the time-activity curves varied widely with alterations in physical and biological turnover and with changes in steady-state due to iodine administration, it was possible to calculate overall effective half-lives for each organ of interest from the integral of the time-activity curve projected by solution of the model. This overall effective half-life of the hormone for the body's exchangeable hormone compartments correlated well with calculated radiation dose to the thyroid in the unblocked state. With progressive degrees of iodine block, this correlation persisted, though with proportionately reduced thyroid radiation doses. Use and manipulation of a compartmental model, rather than the usual multiexponential model, for radiation dosimetry facilitates conceptualization and the projection of the effects of interventions such as iodide block.