Increased nuclear tri-iodothyronine binding and thyroid hormone-stimulated glucose consumption in mononuclear blood cells from patients with liver cirrhosis.

Nuclear tri-iodothyronine (T3) maximal binding capacity (MBC) and thyroxine- and T3-stimulated cellular oxygen consumption and glucose consumption were examined in mononuclear blood cells from six patients with liver cirrhosis (LC), in six patients with alcoholic hepatitis (AH), and in six healthy control subjects. Serum T3 was decreased in patients with LC. The MBC of T3 was increased significantly (P less than 0.05) in cells from patients with LC compared with patients with AH and controls, whereas the equilibrium association constants did not differ. Unstimulated glucose consumption was slightly increased (P less than 0.05) in cells from patients with AH and LC compared with controls. Thyroid hormone-stimulated glucose consumption was significantly (P less than 0.05) increased in cells from patients with LC compared with controls and patients with AH. Unstimulated oxygen consumption did not differ between the groups, but thyroid hormone-stimulated oxygen consumption was depressed in cells from patients with AC (P less than 0.05) compared with patients with LC and with controls. We conclude that both thyroid hormone-stimulated glucose consumption and T3 nuclear receptor binding in cells from patients with LC are increased, and suggest that the observed changes are responsible for maintenance of euthyroidism in the face of reduced circulating T3.