Thyroid Hormones, Their Carrier Proteins, and Thyroid Antibodies in the Pleural Effusion of Two Patients with Graves' Disease-induced Thyrotoxicosis

Introduction. Concentrations of thyroid hormones, their carrier proteins, and thyroid antibodies in plasma have been extensively investigated, but those in pleural effusion have not. Patients and Medthods. In the present study, we report, for the first time, the concentrations of thyroid hormones, their carrier proteins, and thyroid antibodies in the pleural effusion of two thyrotoxicosis patients with Graves' disease. Results. The pleural effusions were transudates. The concentrations of thyroid hormone carrier proteins, such as thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG), thyroxine-binding prealbumin (TBPA), and albumin (Alb) were approximately 30–50% of the plasma. The concentrations of total triiodothyronine (TT3), total tetraiodothyronine (TT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and free tetraiodothyronine (FT4) were approximately 15–40%, 45–55%, 45–75%, and 80–85% of the plasma, respectively. The concentration of thyroid stimulating hormone receptor antibody (TRAb) (equal to TSH-binding inhibitory immunoglobulins%;...