CIRCADIAN AND 30 MINUTES VARIATIONS IN SERUM TSH AND THYROID HORMONES IN NORMAL SUBJECTS

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http://www.eje-online.org/cgi/content/abstract/89/3/659

DOI: 10.1530/acta.0.0890659

Acta Endocrinologica, Vol 89, Issue 3, 659-672

Copyright © 1978 by European Society of Endocrinology

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Articles by Gundersen, H. J. G.

CIRCADIAN AND 30 MINUTES VARIATIONS IN SERUM TSH AND THYROID HORMONES IN

NORMAL SUBJECTS

Jørgen Weeke and Hans Jørgen

G. Gundersen

Ten normal young males were investigated in order to examine diurnal

and short-term variations in serum TSH and serum thyroid hormones.

In five subjects blood samples were obtained every 30 min during a

24 h period of daily life. A synchronous diurnal rhythm was found for

free T3 and serum TSH with low levels in the day-time and

higher levels at night. The mean increase from day to night was 15

and 140 per cent, respectively. There was a tendency to a similar

rhythm in free T4, but the increase of 7 per cent fell

short of statistical significance. In the other five men blood

samples were obtained every 5 min in a 6 to 7 h period starting

within the interval from 19.15 to 22.00 h. A significant regular

variation with a cycle-length of half an hour was found in TSH, free

T3 and free T4. This rhythm accounted for a

significant part of the total variation in the levels of TSH, free T3

and free T4. The mean amplitude of the short-term variation

is 13, 15 and 11 per cent of the mean level of the respective

hormones. The data suggest a pulsatile release of hormones from the

thyroid gland governed by a pulsatile TSH secretion.