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Drug Metabolism in Thyroid Disease

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Summary

Thyroid dysfunction can influence the physiological disposition of drugs. Depending on the pharmacokinetic properties of the individual drug, changes in the rate of metabolism ranging from profound to moderate or negligible have been observed. Since renal function is also influenced by thyroid disease, changes in renal elimination of drugs which are excreted in the urine mainly as unchanged drugs have to be considered as another reason for altered drug disposition in thyroid disease.

In patients with thyrotoxicosis, lower, and in patients with myxoedema, higher, digitalis plasma levels have been observed. The altered disposition of cardiac glycosides in thyroid dysfunction can be attributed to changes in renal elimination and metabolism. These findings may be the kinetic correlate for the clinical observation that larger than the usual dose of digitalis is required in thyrotoxic patients and lower in hypothyroid patients.

Antipyrine half-lives are very much shortened during hyperthyroidism and prolonged appreciably during hypothyroidism. The alterations in the disposition of these drugs seen during thyroid dysfunction can be ascribed to changes in its rate of metabolism which is controlled by the levels of circulating thyroid hormones. N-demethylation of aminopyrine is depressed both in hyper- and hypothyroid patients as compared with euthyroid subjects. Changes in the half-life of this drug were observed only during hypothyroidism. The physiological disposition of the antithyroid drug propylthiouracil is not changed during thyrotoxicosis. A decrease in plasma half-life of methimazole is however, observed during hyperthyroidism, whereas in hypothyroid patients half-life is increased.

The few data available so far do not allow general prediction of how thyroid disease could alter drug metabolism in man.

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  1. Department of Medicine, University of Bonn, D 5300, Bonn-Venusberg, West Germany

    Michel Eichelbaum

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Eichelbaum, M. Drug Metabolism in Thyroid Disease. Clin Pharmacokinet 1, 339–350 (1976). https://doi.org/10.2165/00003088-197601050-00002

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