The Thyroid in Infections and Toxemias.

Abstract

The work of Baumann, 1 who demonstrated in 1895 that the thyroid gland contained iodine, and of Oswald, 2 who a few years later isolated thyro-globulin and the nucleoproteins, contained the basic facts upon which the modern advancements in prevention and treatment of goiter have been dependent.

We have observed, as has been noted by others, that the normal histological picture in animals, especially the dog, is somewhat variable. In a series of experiments upon dogs, we undertook to produce pathological changes in the thyroid and noted marked changes, many of which were of the hyperplastic type, after production of certain kinds of infections and toxemias. The thyroid glands of laboratory animals which succumbed to peritonitis, pneumonia, etc., most of which were secondary to an operation, were removed and analyzed for iodine content after a small piece was removed for microscopical section. Careful weights of the glands were obtained, making deductions for the pieces removed for section, and iodine determinations made according to the method of Hunter, 3 as modified by Kendall. 4 Peritonitis was also produced by ligation of the appendix and its mesentery, and empyemata produced by injection of streptococci and staphylococci into the pleural cavity. Sections of the thyroid were also removed from animals suffering from intestinal obstruction and severe subcutaneous infections produced by the injection of fecal material. In practically all animals, which were killed by either of the methods mentioned above, the iodine content of the thyroid gland was found to be diminished, and a quite constant destruction of acinal cells noted, with an accompanying attempt at hyperplasia.