Circadian rhythms, cyclic fluctuations in many physiological and psychological functions, are thought to influence adjustment to shiftwork. A widely acknowledged individual difference in circadian rhythms, commonly called morningness, indicates preferences associated with morning or evening activities. Various self-report instruments have been developed to measure morningness, although little measurement data have been published for these scales. Because morningness scales are being used to select workers for night shiftwork, psychometric evaluations of these scales are needed. Psychometric assessments of undergraduate responses (N = 501) on three widely used scales indicate internal (interitem) measurement deficiencies in all three. Therefore, a 13-item scale was developed that distills the best items from two of these scales. Relationships between the new composite scale and external criteria are comparable with or stronger than similar relationships between the published scales and external criteria.

Thyrotoxic patients treated with Iodine-131 (131I) often present with low thyroxine (T4), normal triiodothyronine (T3) and raised thyrotropin (TSH) concentrations in serum. We have developed a rat model of this low T4, raised TSH state. Rats were injected with 50, 150 or 450 mu Ci 131I. A dose of 50 mu Ci 131I caused no significant effect on thyroid function, as assessed by serum parameters whereas both 150 mu Ci and 450 mu Ci 131I caused a significant fall in serum T4 concentration accompanied by a significant rise in TSH concentration. In all groups serum T3 concentration was not significantly altered when compared to controls. The clearance of 131I from the rats showed a single exponential curve (t 1/2 3.38 +/- 0.61 days) over the range of 131I doses used. Differing body weights had no effect on the serum T4 changes induced by 131I.

The expected decreases of serum total T4, total T3, T4 binding prealbumin, and T4 binding globulin (TBG) concentrations were found in a selected series of patients with nonthyroidal illnesses (NTI). An increase in percent dialysable fraction of T4 was also found. Although serum TBG concentrations were decreased, the proportion of a slow moving form of TBG, designated slow TBG (STBG) was increased, the absolute concentration being not significantly different from that measured in controls. Thus the observed decrease in TBG in NTI occurs in the normal TBG fraction which binds T4 much more avidly than does STBG. It is suggested that the increase in the proportion of STBG, due to a decrease in normal TBG, has an important role in the pathogenesis of the increase in percent dialysable fraction of T4 in serum from patients with NTI.

The Amerlex Free Thyroxin (T4) Radioimmunoassay Kit (Amersham International Ltd.) is a new direct equilibrium radioimmunoassay for free T4 based on an antiserum with very high affinity for T4, and a unique 125I-labeled T4 analog as tracer. It is a very simple single-tube radioimmunoassay, making use of Amerlex particles to separate antibody-bound from free species. Interassay precision (CV) is 3.7% at 13 pmol/L and 2.3% at 30 pmol/L; within-assay precision is 4.2% at 21 pmol/L. The reference interval is 11-22 pmol/L. The assay did not misclassify any patients tested who had untreated myxedema or untreated thyrotoxicosis. The free T4 assay excelled both the free T4 index and the T4/T4-binding globulin ratio in correcting for increased thyroxin-binding globulin from pregnancy, and it was better than the index but not better than the ratio in correcting for increased thyroxin-binding globulin in users of oral contraceptives.

Severe nonthyroidal illnesses have been associated with increases in nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) and the dialyzable fraction of thyroxin (T4) in plasma. We have further investigated their possible relationship in severe nonthyroidal illnesses as well as in induced in vivo and in vitro situations involving increased NEFA. We demonstrate that there is no relationship between NEFA and the dialyzable fraction of T4, either in severe nonthyroidal illnesses or in the other situations, unless plasma NEFA concentrations exceed 5 mmol/L in normal persons or 1.7 mmol/L in nonthyroidal illnesses, and that this concentration was not reached in the patients we studied, with one exception. We conclude that NEFA are unlikely to contribute to an inhibition of the binding of T4 to the binding proteins that might be present in plasma of patients with severe nonthyroidal illnesses unless their NEFA concentrations are very high.