Volume 13, Issue 2

This article discusses the conditions that may lead to a phenomenon called dysthyronemia. Here, the thyroid gland has concentration of thyrotropin in circulation within the reference range, but the concentrations of free or total fractions of thyroid hormones are outside the reference range. Normal values of thyrotropin (TSH) and increased values of THs are referred to as hyperthyroxinemia, while normal values of thyrotropin and decreased values of thyroid hormone are hypothyroxinemia. As shown by our observations, it is a relatively frequent situation in the parallel determinations of TSH and free thyroxine, when results verging on hyperthyroxinemia were found in 7% of cases (6.74%, n=259,590), and also in the parallel sets of TSH and total triiodothyronine when hypotriiodothyroninemia reached 8.5% (8.48%, n=73,143). We are assuming that the main cause of hyperthyroxinemia in the free thyroxine and TSH system is the presence of autoantibodies against thyroxine in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease. The reason of hypotriiodothyroninemia in the system of triiodothyronine and TSH is a decreased concentration of thyroid binding globulin in postmenopausal women. Manufacturers of immunoanalytical kits should take into account the potential adverse effects of autoantibodies against thyroid hormones when measuring the results of immunoassay determination of the free fraction of these hormones.

One hundred and eighty-five female never-hormone users with a mean age of 50.71 (SD=5.58) years upon initiation of treatment were studied before instauration and during treatment. The profile of patients subjected to the study included body mass index (BMI), bone mineral density (BMD), and lipid profile (LP). In our population, pretreatment values were within the normal range, which is why a hormone replacement therapy (HRT), conjugated equine estrogen plus medroxyprogesterone acetate, was administered to a healthy population of women for 9.82±5.42 years and follow-up comprised 1815.84 woman-years. To study the effects of treatment on the investigated clinical subjects, we resorted to comparative analyses of pretreatment and posttreatment mean values: descriptive and comparative hypothesis, followed by a repeated measurements design to investigate the evolution on three levels according to age groups just before the initiation of the treatment and on the other three levels during the treatment with a minimum follow-up of 9 years. On the basis of the numerical results, we were able to conclude that BMD decreased significantly (p=0.00) well above the values found on curves corresponding to these age groups. The total cholesterol decreased significantly at 2–3 years interval (p=0.04). The rest of the LP factors remained within a safe margin. Therefore, long-term HRT may be considered initially as a beneficial alternative in the treated study population.