[Metabolism of thyroxine in acute viral hepatitis]

Aim of this report was to define the correlation between hepatic acute damage and thyroxine metabolism. We have studied plasma levels of T4, T3, rT3 and TSH in 18 adult male subjects with acute viral hepatitis. No significant variation of T4, T3 and TSH plasma levels was found in different phases of disease. However, plasma rT3 levels were clearly elevated in 72% of patients in the first 7 days (mean 440 pg/ml vs 198 pg/ml of normal controls) and in 17% of cases in the second 10 days of disease (mean 269 pg/ml). Plasma rT3 concentration was always normal in the subsequent phases of disease. Our results indicate a diversion of peripheral thyroxine metabolism in the early stages of acute hepatitis.