The Relationship between Serum Thyroglobulin and Intrathyroidal Stable Iodine in Euthyroid Goitrous Patients

The X-ray fluorescence method (XRF) enables one to estimate total stable iodine pool (ITI) in the human thyroid gland in vivo with reasonable accuracy and without unreasonable radiation burden (1,2). Most of the ITI is stored in thyroglobulin (TG) (3). Iligher than normal serum thyroglobulin concentrations (sTG) have been found in various thyroid dysfunction and this has been related to enhanced release by the thyroid cell, as a result of thyrotropin stimulation (TSH) (4), of tissue lesion as in subacute thyroiditis or through an unknown mechanism such as in thyroid cancer (5). The aim of the present work was to assess whether high sTG could be related to ITI in euthyroid patients with simple goitre.