J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 58(3): 403-408, 1957

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STUDIES ON THE IODIC ACID REDUCING POWER OF BLOOD CELLS IN GRAVES' DISEASE

Although the fundamental etiology of Graves' disease still remain to be solved, it has been widely accepted that a close relationship exists between its principal symptoms and the function of autonomic nervous system and the patients are in a state of somewhat abnormally stimulated sympathetic nervous system or of an excessively high level of epinephrine in the blood. The iodic acid reducing power of blood cells being assumed by Prof. K. Kuroda (Tokushima University) as an indicator of epinephrine in the blood, the power was measured in the patients of Graves' disease, including some cases of thyrotoxicosis, other thyroid diseases and even persons in good bealth in order to confirm whether or not an excessively high level of epinephrine is really seen in Graves' disease. The results obtained were summarized as follows.
1) The iodic acid reducing power of blood cells was always far lower in all cases of Graves' disease and in the majority of thyrotoxicosis than that of persons in good health or in other thyroid diseases. Their lowered power, however, restored gradually as thyrotoxic symptoms disappeared by the medical treatment and at the time of discharge from the hospital after successful thyroidectomy it returned to the same level as that of healthy persons.
From these results it may be supposed that epinephrine level in the blood is reduced in all patients of Graves' disease and in the majority of thyrotoxicosis, but it restores to the normal level by surgical treatment.
2) In order to confirm the results of these clinical cases the iodic acid reducing power was measured in rabbits of experimentally induced thyrotoxicosis. Its power was reduced remarkably in the rabbits as low as that in Graves' disease. Moreover an histochemical study revealed an insufficient state of function of the adrenal medulla in those thyrotoxic rabbits.
3) The variation of iodic acid reduciug power of blood cells caused by an operative stress in Graves' disease did not show any constant tendency, but it was more remarkable when compared with that in control cases, especially in 1 ~ 3 days after thyroidectomy, whereas no specific relationship seemed to exist between the variation of iodic acid reducing power and the postoperative thyroid crisis.
(author's abstract)

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