THE EFFECT OF FREE FATTY ACIDS ON RESIN UPTAKE OF TRI-IODOTHYRONINE FROM HUMAN, RAT, RABBIT AND GUINEA-PIG SERUM AND HUMAN SERUM ALBUMIN

Abstract

Recently changes in plasma free fatty acids have been suggested as a possible regulator of the levels of free thyroxine in the plasma. Oleic acid has been shown to displace tri-iodothyronine from human serum, human serum albumin, rat serum, rabbit serum and guinea-pig serum. The extent of the displacement, much greater from human serum albumin than from whole serum, suggests that free fatty acid does not affect the globulin binding site. It would also appear that, in the rat, all the binding sites are sensitive to free fatty acids and hence there is probably only albumin binding in this species. The results with rabbit and guinea-pig serum were intermediate to those with human and rat serum. A significant rise in resin uptake of tri-iodothyronine in vitro occurred with an increase of free fatty acid level of 0·5 m-equiv./l., well within the physiological range.