[The two triiodothyronines (T3 and rT3). Thyroid biosynthesis of T3 and rT3 and peripheral metabolism of thyroxine (author's transl)].

Thirty per cent of the iodine in thyroglobulin is present as iodothyronines. L-thyroxine (T4) represents 90-95% of hormonal iodine, 3,5,3'-triodo-L-thyronine (T3) contains at the most two per cent of it, 3,3'5'-triodo-L-thyronine (rT3) even less, as well as traces of 3,3'-diodo-L-thyronine. The plasma concentration of T4 is about 8 microgram per 100 ml, in the case of T3 it is 120 ng and 25 ng for rT3. The cell nucleus preferentially binds T3 and rT3 and there are also some specific mitochondrial proteins which possess a high affinity for T3. L-thyroxine is dehalogenated peripherically to T3, to take care of most of the requirements in T3. The enrichment of the plasma in rT3 has been shown to occur under various experimental and pathological conditoins. The blood level of T3 varies in inverse ratio to the level of rT3 and it shows that the peripheral formation of one is compensated for by the other. The excess of the prehormone T4 is metabolised as 3,5,3',5'-tetraiodothyroacetic acid (TetrAc); its level in the blood varies in the same way as the level of T3, in particular it decreases during starvation.