%0 Review
%T Lactose intolerance and levothyroxine malabsorption: a review of the literature and report of a series of patients treated with liquid L-T4 without lactose.
%A Ferrari SM
%A Patrizio A
%A Mazzi V
%A Ragusa F
%A Botrini C
%A Elia G
%A Balestri E
%A Barozzi E
%A Rugani L
%A Bracchitta F
%A Stoppini G
%A Frenzilli G
%A Baldini E
%A Virili C
%A Benvenga S
%A Fallahi P
%A Antonelli A
%J Front Endocrinol (Lausanne)
%V 15
%N 0
%D 2024
%M 38665263
%F 6.055
%R 10.3389/fendo.2024.1386510
%X In hypothyroid patients needing large doses of levothyroxine (L-T4) (>1.7-2 μg/kg/day) to reach euthyroidism, lactose intolerance (LI) needs to be excluded, owing to the high prevalence in the population. If LI is present, a lactose-free diet decreases the rate of L-T4 malabsorption. However, an increased requirement of L-T4 is described in patients with LI, which can be beneficially treated using lactose-free L-T4 formulation. The lactose-free liquid L-T4 formulation is able to circumvent LI malabsorption leading to the normalization of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism and long-term stable TSH levels.