Morbidly obese subjects may present with abnormal thyroid function tests but the reported data are scarce. Therefore, we studied the thyroid parameters in 144 morbidly obese patients, 110 females and 34 males, to assess the prevalence of hypothyroidism. Eleven percent (11.8%) carried the diagnosis of hypothyroidism and were undergoing levothyroxine (LT4) replacement therapy, 7.7% had newly diagnosed subclinical hypothyroidism, 0.7% had subclinical hyperthyroidism and 7.7% were euthyroid with positive antibodies (anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies [TPOAb]). From the 144 subjects, we selected a cohort of 78 euthyroid subjects with negative TPOAb, who did not receive LT4 replacement or suppression therapy (the experimental group) and compared them to 77 normal-weight euthyroid subjects, TPOA-negative, matched for age and gender who served as controls. The experimental group had higher serum levels of triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and thyrotropin (TSH) compared to the control group. Serum TSH concentration was associated with fasting serum insulin levels and insulin resistance but not with serum leptin levels, body mass index (BMI), fat mass, and lean body mass. In conclusion, in morbidly obese individuals, the prevalence of overt and subclinical hypothyroidism was high (19.5%). The morbidly obese subjects have higher levels of T3, FT3, T4, and TSH, probably the result of the reset of their central thyrostat at higher level.

Insulin resistance and loss of glucose-stimulated acute insulin response (AIR) are the two major and earliest defects in the course of type 2 diabetes. We investigated whether weight loss after bariatric surgery in patients with morbid obesity and type 2 diabetes could restore euglycemia and normal AIR to an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT). We studied 25 morbidly obese patients-12 with type 2 diabetes, 5 with impaired glucose tolerance, and 8 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT)-before and after a biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGBP). Twelve individuals with normal BMI served as control subjects. Twelve months after surgery, in the diabetes group, BMI decreased from 53.2 ؎ 2.0 to 29.2 ؎ 1.7 kg/m 2 , fasting glucose decreased from 9.5 ؎ 0.83 to 4.5 ؎ 0.13 mmol/l, and fasting insulin decreased from 168.4 ؎ 25.9 to 37.7 ؎ 4.4 pmol/l (mean ؎ SE; P < 0.001). AIR, the mean of insulin concentration at 2, 3, and 5 min over basal in the IVGTT, increased by 770 and 935% at 3 and 12 months after surgery, respectively (from 24.0 ؎ 22.7 to 209 ؎ 43.4 and 248 ؎ 33.1 pmol/l, respectively; P < 0,001). Conversely, in the NGT group, the AIR decreased by 40.5% (from 660 ؎ 60 to 393 ؎ 93 pmol/l; P ‫؍‬ 0.027) 12 months after surgery. BPD with RYGBP performed in morbidly obese patients with type 2 diabetes leads to significant weight loss, euglycemia, and normal insulin sensitivity; but most importantly, it restores a normal ␤-cell AIR to glucose and a normal relationship of AIR to insulin sensitivity. This is the first study to demonstrate that the lost glucose-induced AIR in patients with type 2 diabetes of mild or moderate severity is a reversible abnormality.

A B S T R A C T Diet-induced alterations in thyroid hormone concentrations have been found in studies of long-term (7 mo) overfeeding in man (the Vermont Study). In these studies ofweight gain in normal weight volunteers, increased calories were required to maintain weight after gain over and above that predicted from their increased size. This was associated with increased concentrations of triiodothyronine (T3

In 9 euthyroid obese volunteers, as previously reported, 4 weeks of total caloric deprivation resulted in a striking decrease in serum 3,5;3'-triiodothyronine (T3) concentration. The present studies reveal that this decrease in serum T3 is accompanied by a proportionately similar increase in the serum concentration of 3,3',5' -T3 (reverse T3; rT3). In four additional obese volunteers given suppressive doses of sodium-Lthyroxine (T4) for 1 month prior to fasting, serum T3 concentration declined sharply during a 6-11 day period of fast, while rT3 concentration increased strikingly. Concentrations of both T3 and rT3 returned to control values during a 5 day period of refeeding. The findings indicate that caloric deprivation results in an alteration in peripheral T4 metabolism away from generation of T3 and toward the generation of rT3. Since the former is more active than T4, and the latter is essentially inactive, caloric deprivation appears to shunt peripheral T4 metabolism from activating to inactivating pathways.