Use of compartment models for the study of iodine kinetics

Studies of the successive phases of iodine kinetics and their description on a quantitative basis provide important clues to the diagnostic differentiation of thyroid diseases and help to gain closer insight into the mechanism of action of the drugs to watch the diseases are expected to respond. It was attempted to establish quantitative parameters by experiments in vivo and in vitro in order to gain reliable information on iodine kinetics. This objective was approached from two angles: the first was to develop and to refine radioisotope methods, the second to evaluate the results on a quantitative basis by means of compartment models. Three- seven- and ten-compartment models were designed on these grounds for the calculation of the parameters suited for the description of iodine kinetics. The results were matched by analogue and by digital computer. The parameters thus obtained were found to be reliable indicators of te drug induced effects. Though the method has been used for the evaluation of animal experiments, it is regarded as suitable for the assessment of diagnostic and pharmacokinetic data in humans as well.