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Human liver and kidney cells convert 6 to 10 percent of added thyroxine to triiodothyronine in vitro at 37 degrees C. This extent of conversion is ten times greater than that in control studies with killed cells. Conversion is evident within 10 minutes and appears to be maximal within 1 hour. Greater net triiodothyronine formation results if greater amounts of exogenous thyroxine are added to the system, with no plateau evident even at very high thyroxine concentrations. The addition of high concentrations of nonradioactive triiodothyronine resulted in no evident inhibition of the conversion.

SUMMARY The integrity of pituitary—adrenal function and growth hormone production was determined in 15 patients before and after treatment with diazepam (30 mg daily). There was no evidence of impairment; nor was the urinary excretion of catecholamines significantly altered. The reproducibility of the plasma corticosteroid response to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia was separately assessed and both the degree of fall in blood sugar and the rise in plasma corticosteroid level were found to be similar.

Summary The pituitary‐adrenal response to stress and the production of growth hormone were studied in a group of schizophrenic patients before and after treatment with chlorpromazine in a dose of 300 mg daily for 1 week. Although there was a tendency for the growth hormone levels to be lower after treatment, the mean figures showed no significant differences. The mean plasma corticosteroid response to the stress of hypoglycaemia was only of significant difference at 120 min. Individual cases showed considerable, apparently random, variation.