Hypoalbuminemia occurs frequently in the course of wasting disease but never progresses to a condition of complete analbuminemia. The latter, in fact, is unknown in pathology. Analbuminemia, however, has been described as a benign congenital syndrome occurring in siblings (1-3). The absence of serious pathological changes in these two cases is striking and makes it appear likely that this form of benign analbuminemia belongs to the realm of congenital aberration of protein metabolism.The absence of circulating albumin creates a unique basal condition which makes it easy to follow the fate of infused albumin by more than one method. It was decided, therefore, to study the rate of disappearance of albumin in one of the siblings (a female) and to use for this purpose both I131-labeled albumin and a commercial human albumin. The rate of disappearance of the former was obtained by measuring the decay of radioactivity in the usual manner and of the latter by means of paper electrophoresis and immunological tests.

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Summary:Oxalic acid was determined in human saliva, teeth, tartar, and in animal teeth. Saliva from dentally healthy male subjects contained 0.10 ± 0.09 mmol/1 (n = 41) and those of dentally healthy female subjects 0.18 ± 0.17 mmol/1 (n = 40). Oxalic acid in tartar from 16 patients was 3.3 ± 1.2 mmol/kg tartar. In human teeth, oxalic acid was 1.0 ± 0.3 mmol/kg in milk teeth (n = 12) and 0.9 ± 0.6 mmol/kg in permanent teeth (n = 60). Human teeth were sorted into age groups and into molars, incisors and premolars. In animal teeth, oxalic acid content varied widely. The formed calcium oxalate is proposed to be a 'physiologicaP protective mechanism for teeth.

In several cases of thyroid adenoma in which no TSH was detectable in the serum, a paradoxical decrease of PB123I and its conversion rate Q (PB123I/serum total radioactivity) was observed after infusion of protirelin (TRH). The possibile direct effect of TRH on thyrocytes was therefore studied in vitro. Porcine thyroid cells were cultured in NCTC-135 medium supplemented with a serum substitute and insulin. TRH and some of its analogs enhanced the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA and the uptake of radioiodide into thyrocytes. In the presence of TSH, TRH did not stimulate radioiodine uptake, whereas incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA was not antagonized by TSH. Thus, in this culture system, TRH had a direct effect on both growth and metabolism of thyrocytes. TSH can modulate these effects.

A plasma fraction rich in thyroid hormone-binding globulin (hTBG, human thyropexin) was injected iv into rabbits in order to see whether thyroid hormone concentrations in plasma would increase by return of T3 and T4 from the extravascular space. For this purpose, both [125I]T3 and [131I]T4 were simultaneously injected. After 1 h, or after 16 h in another series of experiments, 50 mg hTBG were injected iv. Thereafter, the mean radioactivity of both [125I]T3 and [131I]T4 in the plasma rose, and reached its peak 20-30 min after hTBG injection; [125I]T3 and [131I]T4 returned to the preinjection value slowly, after more than 3 h. When hTBG was injected 15-16 h after the radioactive hormones, the mean radioactivity of [125I]T3 reached its peak about 1 h after hTBG injection and returned to the base value after approximately 5.5 h, [131I]T4 reached its peak about 1 h after hTBG injection and returned to the base value within 12 h. After injection of hTBG, total T4 and T3 concentrations in plasma increased about 3- to 5-fold over the base values. At the same time, the percentage of both, free T4 and free T3 dropped instantly whereas absolute free T4 and free T3 values remained almost constant. After injection of 500 mg transthyretin (hTBPA), a similar flux of [125I]T3 and [131I]T4 was observed, whereas 500 mg human serum albumin were ineffective. These marked effects of injected hTBG and hTBPA on the serum levels of [125I]T3, [131I]T4, and total T3 indicate that reentry of T3 and T4 into the intravascular compartment is an important component of thyroid hormone distribution and transport. As can be anticipated from the animal experiments, the efficiency of plasmapheresis or hemofiltration methods may be improved by previous application of large doses of hTBPA or hTBG in cases of thyrotoxicosis.