ACHIEF function of the thyroid gland is to convert inorganic iodine (iodide) to a state of higher oxidation, equivalent to elementary iodine. When various animal proteins, except gelatine which is nearly devoid of tyrosine, are treated with elementary iodine, thyroxine is formed in vitro. In myxedema, the patient's own serum when combined with iodine (1) (2) will restore his health; whereas sodium iodide usually will not. A more striking demonstration is the relief of myxedema by the parenteral administration of elementary iodine (3) (4). The higher state of oxidation allows iodine to form the essential organic iodine complex (5) present in all tissues (“thyrenzyme,” so-called). As this is degraded in the course of metabolism, it reverts to the inorganic form. Therefore, in broad terms, a large section of thyroid physiology may be described as the reciprocal metabolism of organic versus inorganic iodine. It is the purpose of this communication to report observations on the mutual interconversion of organic and inorganic forms of iodine. Apart from its basic interest, an understanding of this topic is essential to avoid mistaken diagnosis through misinterpretation of clinical chemistry.
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Salter et al. (1949) studied this question.