Thyroid hormones and alcoholic liver disease.

Alcoholic liver disease shares with other nonthyroidal illnesses patterns of serum thyroid hormones that usually do not reflect true thyroid function. Although ethanol can affect the thyroid gland and also may directly interfere with thyroid hormone metabolism, most patients with alcoholic liver disease are euthyroid. However, some have mild hypothalamic pituitary axis dysfunction. In persons who chronically and continuously drink alcohol, there are demonstrable biochemical abnormalities similar to the effects of thyroid hormone on the liver. However, a primary pathogenetic role in alcoholic hepatitis has not been proven for this thyroid hormone mimicry. There is good clinical evidence, however, that serum thyroid hormones can serve as prognostic indicators of the course of liver disease.