Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Treatment of refractory and severe hypothyroidism with sublingual levothyroxine in liquid formulation

  • Research Letter
  • Published:
Endocrine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

References

  1. B. Biondi, L. Wartofsky, Treatment with thyroid hormone. Endocr. Rev. 35(3), 433–512 (2014)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. J. Jonklaas, A.C. Bianco, A.J. Bauer, K.D. Burman, A.R. Cappola, F.S. Celi, D.S. Cooper, B.W. Kim, R.P. Peeters, M.S. Rosenthal, A.M. Sawka; American Thyroid Association Task Force on Thyroid Hormone Replacement, Guidelines for the treatment of hypothyroidism: prepared by the American Thyroid Association Task Force on thyroid hormone replacement. Thyroid 24(12), 1670–1751 (2014)

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. M.T. Hays, K.R.K. Nielsen, Human thyroxine absorption: age effects and methodological analyses. Thyroid 4, 55–64 (1994)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. S. Benvenga, L. Bartolone, S. Squadrito, F. Lo Giudice, F. Trimarchi, Delayed intestinal absorption of levothyroxine. Thyroid 5, 249–253 (1995)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. M. Centanni, L. Gargano, G. Canettieri, N. Viceconti, A. Franchi, G. Delle Fave, B. Annibale, Thyroxine in goiter, Helicobacter pylori infection, and chronic gastritis. N. Engl. J. Med. 354, 1787–1795 (2006)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. S. Checchi, A. Montanaro, L. Pasqui, C. Ciuoli, V. De Palo, M.C. Chiappetta, F. Pacini, L-thyroxine requirement in patients with autoimmune hypothyroidism and parietal cell antibodies. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 93(2), 465–469 (2008)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. M. Munoz-Torres, M. Varsavsky, G. Alonso, Lactose intolerance revealed by severe resistance to treatment with levothyroxine. Thyroid 16, 1171–1173 (2006)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. P. Fallahi, S.M. Ferrari, I. Ruffilli, F. Ragusa, M. Biricotti, G. Materazzi, P. Miccoli, A. Antonelli, Advancements in the treatment of hypothyroidism with LT4 liquid formulation or soft gel capsule: an update. Expert Opin. Drug Deliv. 30, 1–9 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  9. R. Vita, G. Saraceno, F. Trimarchi, S. Benvenga, A novel formulation of L-thyroxine (LT4) reduces the problem of LT4 malabsorption by coffee observed with traditional tablet formulations. Endocrine 43(1), 154–160 (2013)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. R. Vita, G. Saraceno, F. Trimarchi, S. Benvenga, Switching levothyroxine from the tablet to the oral solution formulation corrects the impaired absorption of levothyroxine induced by proton-pump inhibitors. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 12, 4481–4486 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. C. Virili, P. Trimboli, F. Romanelli, M. Centanni, Liquid and softgel levothyroxine use in clinical practice: state of the art. Endocrine 54, 3–14 (2016)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. P. Fallahi, S.M. Ferrari, A. Antonelli, Oral L-thyroxine liquid versus tablet in patients with hypothyroidism without malabsorption: a prospective study. Endocrine 52(3), 597–601 (2016)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. R. Vita, P. Fallahi, A. Antonelli, S. Benvenga, The administration of L-thyroxine as soft gel capsule or liquid solution. Expert Opin. Drug Deliv. 11(7), 1103–1111 (2014)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. D.J. Lips, M.T. van Reisen, V. Voigt, W. Venekamp, Diagnosis and treatment of levothyroxine pseudomalabsorption. Neth. J. Med. 62(4), 114–118 (2004)

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. A. Tönjes, S. Karger, C.A. Koch, R. Paschke, A. Tannapfel, M. Stumvoll, D. Fuhrer, Impaired enteral levothyroxine absorption in hypothyroidism refractory to oral therapy after thyroid ablation for papillary thyroid cancer: case report and kinetic studies. Thyroid 16(10), 1047–1051 (2006)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. B. Jauk, P. Mikosch, H. J. Gallowitsch, E. Kresnik, M. Molnar, I. Gomez, P. Lind, Unusual malabsorption of levothyroxine. Thyroid 10(1), 93–95 (2000)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. R.A. Hodin, A. Shei, M. Morin, S. Meng, Thyroid hormone and the gut: selective transcriptional activation of a villus-enterocyte marker. Surgery 120(2), 138–143 (1996)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. P. Fallahi, S.M. Ferrari, A. Antonelli, In patients with subclinical hypothyroidism while in therapy with tablet L-T4, the liquid L-T4 formulation is more effective in restoring euthyroidism. Endocr. Pract. 23(2), 170–174 (2017)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. N. Narang, J. Sharma, Sublingual mucosa as a route for systemic drug delivery. Int. J. Pharm. Pharm. Sci. 3(2), 18–22 (2011)

  20. S. Benvenga, F. Di Bari, Intestinal absorption and buccal absorption of liquid levothyroxine. Endocrine (2017). doi:10.1007/s12020-017-1250-4

    Google Scholar 

  21. A.M. Formenti, G. Mazziotti, R. Giubbini, A. Giustina, Treatment of hypothyroidism: all that glitters is gold? Endocrine 52, 411–413 (2016)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy

    Carmela Peirce, Serena Ippolito, Alejandra Lanas, Marcella Pesce, Gilda Pontieri, Debora Arpaia, Giovanni Sarnelli & Bernadette Biondi

Authors
  1. Carmela Peirce
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Serena Ippolito
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alejandra Lanas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marcella Pesce
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gilda Pontieri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Debora Arpaia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Giovanni Sarnelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Bernadette Biondi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bernadette Biondi.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Peirce, C., Ippolito, S., Lanas, A. et al. Treatment of refractory and severe hypothyroidism with sublingual levothyroxine in liquid formulation. Endocrine 60, 193–196 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-017-1367-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-017-1367-5

Search

Navigation