The mechanism of bone,
calcium,
phosphorus and
proteins abnormalities observed in
hyperthyroidism is rather complex and as yet not wholly understood. Increased serum
osteocalcin was recently reported in
hyperthyroid patients and its decrease after 4-8 months of treatment.
Osteocalcin was measured by RIA in the sera of 211 women and 18 men with
thyroid diseases. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to diagnosis: I. polynodular goitre and
subacute thyroiditis (59 women, 5
men); II.
Graves' disease (70 women, 3 men) and III.
thyroid cancer,
after treatment by surgery and 131I (82 women, 10 men). The
osteocalcin levels in the sera of these patients were: 2.97 +/- 2.63 ng/ml (mean +/- SD) for the women and 3.56 +/- 2.10 ng/ml for the men in the 1st group; 16.31 +/- 11.34 ng/ml for the women and 12.75 +/- 6.09 ng/ml for the man in the IInd group and, 1.01 +/- 0.60 ng/ml for the women and 0.78 +/- 0.46 ng/ml for the men in the IIIrd group. No differences were found between the
osteocalcin concentrations in the
hyperthyroid female patients treated with
antithyroid drugs (no = 58) and the non-treated
hyperthyroid women (no = 12): 16.22 +/- 11.40 ng/ml vs 16.74 +/- +/- 11.53 ng/ml. These data suggest that
bone resorption stimulated by endogenous
thyroid-hormones is a rather resistant processus, persisting even after 6-8 mos of associated anti-thyroid
therapy. Further are analyzed the possible causes of the subnormal
osteocalcin levels observed in patients with
thyroid cancer treated by surgery and
radioisotope, whose suppression
therapy was discontinued 2-3 weeks before blood sampling.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)