Endocrine Abstracts

Despite an accurate management, in about 20% of hypothyroid patients showing an increased need for oral levothyroxine (LT4), the leading cause of treatment refractoriness remains unknown. Some studies hypothesized the relationship between gut microbiota composition and thyroid homeostasis, but the possible involvement of microflora in the efficacy of LT4 treatment has not been evaluated yet, and this represents the aim of our study. We examined the faecal microflora compositio...

Objectives: Variations of gut microbiota composition have been described in patients with different thyroid disorders. The site of oral levothyroxine (T4) absorption is represented by the small intestine and it has been demonstrated that some bacterial strains possess enzymatic activity that may affect iodothyronine deconjugation, process probably involved in thyroid hormone enterohepatic recycling. The relationship between gut microflora composition and oral T4 requirement ha...