Biochemical pathway maps are an important aspect of medical education and medical problem-solving. They help us to view a network or series of chemical reactions in cells. In this article, I present a comprehensive science-based pathway map showing all the… Read More ›
Thyroid hormone conversion
The leaky buckets analogy of thyroid hormone metabolism
Thyroid hormone metabolism is a very complicated system. A visual analogy sometimes goes a long way to assist comprehension. Throughout the body, there are at least six major pathways for T4 transformation or excretion, and at least six major pathways… Read More ›
Meet deiodinase type 1 (D1): The philanthropist enzyme
In this educational post, I introduce our thyroid hormone conversion enzyme “deiodinase type 1” (D1) in the personality of “The philanthropist” as I draw on many scientific articles. Of course, D1 is a genderless enzyme. I am personifying “her” in… Read More ›
The 7 lessons of the thyroid hormone deiodinases
The recent post “Thyroid hormone journey: Metabolism” is an educational compendium of diagrams, tables and bullet lists that highlight key lessons from the past five decades of thyroid science. It’s like a booklet in a blog post. The article concluded… Read More ›
Thyroid hormone journey: Metabolism
As one follows the thyroid hormone journey through the human body, at a crucial stage inside many of our cells, a beautiful and complex cascade transforms our thyroid hormones. In this post, I use many visuals and analogies — waterfall,… Read More ›
Infographic: Thyroid hormone journey
This summary blog post will take you through a visual journey as you follow thyroid hormones through bloodstream, transporters, cells, and receptors. This infographic is not like most others you’ll see that portray a gland-centric view of the HPT axis…. Read More ›
Tissue RNA expression of DIO1, DIO2, and DIO3
No, this is not just an article for thyroid science buffs. Anyone who claims to understand thyroid hormone metabolism should become comfortable using the word “deiodinase.” It’s just as important a word for thyroid disease as “insulin” is for diabetes…. Read More ›
Principles and Practical tips for Reverse T3, FT3, FT4
This post follows up on several recent posts on the topic of Reverse T3 (RT3) and our thyroid hormone conversion enzymes, the three deiodinases. Here I’m providing some practical tips about Reverse T3 testing, test interpretation, and where we should… Read More ›