Serum cholesterol esterification in hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.

The rate of serum cholesterol esterification was measured in twenty healthy subjects and compared to similar data obtained with seventeen hyperthyroid and ten hypothyroid subjects. No significant differences were noted in the rate of cholesterol esterification while differences in the fractional rates were highly significant (p less than 0.001); the hyperthyroid group being higher and the hypothyroid group lower than normal. There were no clear trends observed in the changes of the rate of cholesterol esterification upon therapy. However, the fractional rates always increased when hypothyroid patients became euthyroid and always decreased in hyperthyroid patients as the result of therapy.