THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF CIRCULATING BASOPHIL LEUCOCYTES AND THYROID FUNCTION

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Abstract
The author, using a lead acetate solution, devised a new direct counting method for basophil leucocytes in circulating blood. Observations were made on patients suffering with thyrotoxicosis, myxedema, simple goiter and from other diseases diagnosed from clinical symptoms and thyroid function tests. The estimation of basophils (BL), serum protein-bound iodine (PBI) and basal metabolic rate (BMR) were made at the same time, to determine if there was a correlation between basophils and thyroid function. A marked decrease of BL was found in 20 cases of thyrotoxicosis, an increase in myxedema, while a normal range occurred in struma simplex. After methylthiouracil therapy, the basophil count increased in thyrotoxicosis. There was an inverse relationship between BL and PBI or BMR. In myxedema, treated with dried thyroid or 1-thyroxine sodium, the BL decreased. Although dried thyroid caused a decrease in BL in nephrosis and euthyroid, the count was restored to normal when treatment was stopped. When dried thyroid was used, the BL in patients with thyrotoxicosis showed no change. Because of these observations, the authors felt that estimation of the basophil count was of value as a thyroid function test.

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