Thyroid Thermogenesis

Abstract

AWARENESS of the importance of "animal heat" in health and disease is rooted in antiquity. The discovery of oxygen and its role in metabolism of organic matter led to the realization in the mid-1800's that "animal heat" was derived from the controlled oxidation of foodstuffs. Microscopical studies of cellular organelles in the late 19th century established the existence of mitochondria, which in the last three decades have been identified as the site of oxidation of intracellular substrates and of conversion of this energy into phosphate ester bond energy of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The primary biologic fuels, carbohydrates, fats and proteins . . .