[Physiopathological studies of thyroid function in the calf. 1. Diagnosis of thyroid function in the calf]

Clinico-chemical and radiometric methods, common in routine diagnosis in human medicine for in-vitro assessment of thyroid function, were tested for their applicability to calf. The assessment of protein-fixed iodine and of iodine extractable from stock, the thyroxine test, the tri-iodothyronine test, the tri-iodothyronine radio-immuno assay, and the effective thyroxine ratio test, basically, were applicable to diagnosis of thyroid function in calf. The thyrotrophin releasing hormone test, in conjunction with efforts to determine peripheral thyroid gland hormone concentration (in particular tri-iodothyronine), was also applicable to calf, although thyroid stimulation hormone with radio-immuno assay, another procedure in human medicine (specificity of thyroid stimulation hormone antibody), proved unsuitable for the determination of bovine thyroid stimulation hormone.