IT WAS RECENTLY shown (De Robertis and Moura Gongalvez’ 1945) that in the thyroid gland in its normal state there is a wide difference between the oxidation-reduction potential of the follicular cells and of the colloid, and that this difference is altered when the gland is activated. Furthermore, it was found that thiourea produces a drop in the oxidation-reduction potential of the cells whereas sulfonamides have no effect whatsoever, in spite of the fact that both these substances exert a general inhibitory action upon thyroid function. Dempsey (1944), using histochemical methods, recently discovered in the normal thyroid cells a peroxidase activity which is inhibited by thiouracil. This observation is particularly important because the peroxidases catalyze the liberation of iodine from iodides and their presence in the cells may be related to biological iodinations (Keston, 1944), and to the formation of thyroxine (Westerfeld and Lowe, 1942). Glock (1944), however, as the result of his biochemical studies denies that there is a true peroxidase in the thyroid gland, and favors the idea that peroxidase activity is due to the non-specific action of hemoglobin.
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Robertis et al. (1946) studied this question.