THE BLACK THYROID - ITS RELATION TO MINOCYCLINE USE IN MAN

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 107  (4) , 173-177
Abstract
A patient with a grossly black thyroid gland considered to be related to minocycline [an antibiotic] therapy was studied. Microscopically, a brown granular pigment was localized in follicular cells and colloid, which histochemically was melanin or a melaninlike substance. Ultrastructurally, the pigment is confined to lysosomes. The pigment seems to be either an oxidative degradation product of the drug itself, or the results of an as yet unknown alteration of tyrosine metabolism by the drug. Although minocycline interferes with thyroid function in animals, no evidence has been presented for such an effect in humans. The occurrence of a black thyroid gland in humans seems to be virtually pathognomonic for long-term minocycline therapy.

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