Pattern of Recovery of Thyroid Hormone Indices Associated with Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus*

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Abstract
The effects of diabetes mellitus on serum thyroidhormone parameters were studied in 54 patients divided into 4groups. Treated asymptomatic patients (group I) had normalthyroid values which did not correlate with serum or urinaryglucose. Untreated nonketoacidotic patients (group II) showeda mild persistent depression in T3 and an elevation in rT3.Patients with ketoacidosis with a brief history of symptoms(group III) had a moderate T3 decrease and a mild rT3 elevationwhich quickly resolved with treatment. Ketoacidotic patients with a long history of symptoms (group IV) had marked depressionof T3 and elevation of rT3 which was only partiallyrectified by treatment. Serum T4 was generally normal, exceptfor a minimal decrease on the day after admission, probablyresulting from rehydration and a subsequent increase associatedwith an increase in TSH. We concluded that thyroid hormoneparameters were not influenced by variations in serum glucose,but seemed to reflect the effects of a preexisting catabolic state,ketoacidosis, or both.