[Three cases with low levels of serum copper due to long-term enteral nutrition].

Three bed-ridden patients who had had only one kind of enteral nutrition without sufficient copper element during a few years showed very low levels of serum copper. Two of them also had leukopenia. The abnormal findings disappeared after the feeding nutrients rich in copper element. The leukopenia may have been due to copper deficiency rather than zinc deficiency. We confirmed that long-term parenteral nutrition must contain trace elements, for example copper.

Increase of serum GH concentration following TRH injection in patients with primary hypothyroidism.

The effect of TRH administration on serum GH was studied in 6 normal subjects, 13 patients with primary hypothroidism and 6 thyrotoxic subjects. Although no appreciable changes of serum GH were noted in the normal subjects, TRH administration provoked an increase of serum GH in 6 out of 13 patients with primary hypothyroidism. Serum GH levels in response to TRH administration were decreased in patients who were euthyroid following treatment with a preparation of desiccated thyroid. In patients with hyperthroidism, no significant response of serum GH was observed at 30 or 60 min after TRH administration. Some of the patients with hyperthyroidism showed a slight increase in serum GH at 120 min after TRH injection. These results suggest that hypothalamo-pituitary function regulating GH secretion is altered in patients with primary hypothyroidism.