The effect of variations in the concentration of free fatty acids (FFA) on the binding of thyroid hormones in serum has been studied in 20 euthyroid subjects and 19 thyrotoxic patients. In the euthyroid group, neither the pronounced decreases in FFA induced by the oral administration of glucose or the intravenous administration of nicotinic acid, nor the marked increases in FFA which followed the administration of nicotinic acid or 2-deoxyglucose were accompanied by significant changes in the per cent of free thyroxine (T4), the protein-bound iodine (PBI), the per cent of endogenous T4 bound by the T4-binding globulin (TBG) or T4-binding prealbumin (TBPA), or the resin sponge uptake of triiodothyronine (T3).
Lewis E. Braverman, Ronald A. Arky, Angela E. Foster, Sidney H. Ingbar