STUDIES OF IODOALBUMIN METABOLISM. I. A MATHEMATICAL APPROACH TO THE KINETICS*

Abstract

During the clinical study and treatment of a group of patients with thyroid carcinoma, we have studied the effects of thyroid hormone on several metabolic systems under conditions in which the thyroid status of the patients could be controlled at will. Early in the tracer studies of iodoalbumin metabolism in these patients it was apparent that it was necessary to employ a mathematical approach somewhat different from published methods of compartment analysis. Accordingly a suitable mathematical approach was developed by one of the present authors (1). In this report, the practical difficulties encountered in application of the approach to experimental data and the theoretical implications of the approach are discussed. The kinetic analysis of the data of a single tracer study comprises the body of the report. Additional data from other tracer studies are included only insofar as they contribute to the development of the model chosen for analysis.