Effect of Disease on Chemical Constituents of the Human Thyroid Gland

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Abstract
Estimations of RNA, DNA, protein and lipid phosphorus were made in a series of diseased thyroid glands removed surgically and normal glands obtained within 8 hr post mortem. Colorimetric methods for nucleic acid estimation were found to be unsuitable because of interference from other chromogens. The extent of this interference was variable and was related to the colloid content of the tissue. RNA was best measured by a UV method accompanied by correction for peptide contamination, and DNA by estimation of phosphorus after removal of all other phosphorus-containing compounds. The chemical composition of thyroid adenomas did not differ from that of the normal post-mortem samples, but in thyrotoxicosis and even more so in Hashimoto's thyroiditis the RNA, DNA and lipid phosphorus content of the tissue was raised per unit weight. Relative to DNA, there was a decrease in the protein content and an increase in the RNA content of the tissue in thyrotoxicosis and thyroiditis. These changes are consistent with depletion of colloid and changes in cell population, and must be taken into account in biochemical studies on human thyroid tissue.

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