Protein synthesis and quantitative morphology in thyroid tissue from hyperthyroid patients after preoperative treatment with antithyroid or beta-adrenergic antagonist drugs.

The rate of protein synthesis was measured in thyroid tissue obtained from three groups of patients undergoing thyroid surgery: group I (n = 18), hyperthyroid patients preoperatively treated with an antithyroid drug and T4; group II (n = 11), hyperthyroid patients preoperatively treated with a beta-adrenergic antagonist drug; and group III (n = 9), euthyroid patients operated on for multinodular goiter or adenoma. Quantitative morphology was studied in the resected thyroid tissue from the patients in groups I (n = 15) and II (n = 6) who had Graves' disease. While serum thyroid hormone levels became normal during preoperative treatment in group I, they remained elevated in the group II patients. The rate of protein synthesis was 2-fold higher in thyroid tissue from patients in group II than in those in groups I and III. A tendency toward an increased amount of epithelium and a reduced amount of colloid was found in thyroid tissue from patients in group II. There was a positive correlation between the rate of protein synthesis, and distribution of epithelium, and the epithelium to colloid ratio, respectively, in thyroid tissue. These results suggest that the thyroid gland of hyperthyroid patients remains hyperactive during treatment with beta-adrenergic antagonist drugs.