[Effect of lithium chloride on thyroid structural elements in the rat and on the balance of calcitropic hormones]. / Vliianie khlorida litia na strukturnye élementy shchitovidnoi zhelezy krysy i balans kal'tsitropnykh gormonov.

Chronic experiments were performed to study the effect of lithium chloride on morphological and functional characteristics of rat thyroid and on the endocrine regulation of calcium metabolism. As a result of a prolonged exposure to low doses of lithium the thyroid manifests the signs of activation of tissue structures. As the lithium dose is raised, the thyrostatic effect of lithium occurs according to the mechanism similar to the Wolff-Chaikoff effect (colloid accumulation by follicles and suppression of hormones secretion into blood). Lithium chloride stimulates calcitonin production by C cells of the thyroid. However, the increase of the basal level of calcitonin has no substantial effect on calcium metabolism in the animals, since such an increase is accompanied by increment of the production of the physiological antagonist parathyroid hormone by the secretory cells of the parathyroid glands.

[Morphofunctional characteristics of the recovery processes in the resected thyroid of rats]. / Morfofunktsional'naia kharakteristika vosstanovitel'nykh protsessov v rezetsirovannoi shchitovidnoi zheleze krys.

Histological, electron microscopy and radiometry methods were used to study the time-course of the recovery of the morphological and functional parameters of the rat thyroid after resecting 2/3 of the organ. The signs of thyrocyte regeneration, namely hypertrophy of the cells and ultrastructures, proliferation and formation of new follicles were most pronounced on the 5th day. The increase in the number of C cells, their hypertrophy and proliferation permit attaining the high calcitonin level in the blood serum, reaching a maximum on the 15th experimental day.

[Experience using lithium carbonate in the complex treatment of diffuse toxic goiter]. / Opyt primeneniia karbonata litiia v kompleksnoi terapii diffuznogo toksicheskogo zoba.

A study was made of the antithyroid effect of lithium carbonate in 163 patients with diffuse toxic goiter. In addition to clinical monitoring a radioimmunoassay was used to determine the level of serum thyroxine, triiodothyronine and thyrotropin. The most important indicators of the activities of the cardiovascular system were analysed by RCG and polycardiography findings. Data on a rapid and stable antithyroid effect of lithium carbonate were obtained. With the concentration of lithium ion within 0.4-0.8 meq/l the basal level of thyroxine and triiodothyronine decreased by 40 and 35% respectively. Reducing the level of circulating thyronines in hemocirculation lithium did not cause a sharp rise of blood thyrostimulating activity. In combined application of lithium and mercasolil the thyrostatic effect of both drugs was summarized. Lithium did not block iodine accumulating function of the thyroid permitting, if necessary, its combination with iodine drugs. Possible mechanisms of the effect of lithium on the thyroid in hyperthyroidism and its role in multimodality therapy of the diffuse toxic goiter were discussed.

[Calcitonin and parathyroid hormone secretion and calcium metabolism in patients with diffuse toxic goiter during treatment with lithium carbonate]. / Sekretsiia kal'tsitonina, paratireoidnogo gormona i kal'tsievyi obmen u bol'nykh diffuznym toksicheskim zobom vo vremia lecheniia karbonatom litiia.

Seventy-six patients (6 males and 70 females) with diffuse toxic goiter, stages I-II, received lithium carbonate as a thyrostatic drug. The drug dose ranged from 900 to 1500 g depending on the degree of the disease clinical symptoms. The treatment with lithium lasted 45 days. Before drug administration and on days 7, 15, 30 and 45 of treatment the content of triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and calcitonin was measured in the thyroid, that of parathyroid hormone (PTH) in the parathyroid gland, and that of thyrotropic hormone (TTH) in the pituitary. The concentration of ionized calcium in the serum, calcium excretion with urine, and tubular calcium reabsorption were measured concurrently. In patients with diffuse toxic goiter treated with lithium, calcium excretion with urine substantially reduced, whereas tubular reabsorption of calcium and phosphates increased. However, serum calcium concentration did not rise, remaining within normal during all the treatment periods. In the author's opinion, this was favoured by two factors: the lithium-induced increase in interstitial calcium absorption on the one hand and compensatory increase in PTH secretion on the other one. The decreased content of thyronines in the hemocirculation (T3, T4), a short-term elevation of TTH and calcitonin elevation in the blood and steady increase in PTH secretion were characteristic features of the time course of the hormonal parameters in patients with toxic goiter treated with lithium.

[Dynamics of the hormone profile and cardiovascular changes in toxic goiter as affected by lithium carbonate]. / Dinamika gormonal'nogo profilia i serdechno-sosudistykh izmenenii pri toksicheskom zobe pod vliianiem karbonata litiia.

Clinical and physiological data, characterizing a total endocrinological status, thyroid hormone secretion and the cardiovascular functional state, were determined in 68 patients with diffuse toxic goiter of different severity. Lithium carbonate tablets (0.3 g) were indicated orally in a dose of 0.9 to 1.2 g daily during 3--4 months. Good results were obtained in 48.5% of the patients, moderate ones in 41.2% and in 10.3% of cases the drug was ineffective. Over a period of lithium carbonate treatment the thyroid iodine-containing and hormone-forming functions improved, renin plasmatic activity and cortisol level lowered, hyperactivity of the insular apparatus diminished. Hemocirculatory signs returned to normal and hyperdynamic ones decreased. Lithium carbonate is particularly effective in mild and moderate thyrotoxicoses, as well as during a preparing patients for the radical treatment, i.e. strumectomy.