Decreased hypothalamic thyrotropin-releasing hormone gene expression in patients with nonthyroidal illness.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab
; 82(12): 4032-6, 1997 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-9398708
ABSTRACT
Changes in hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid function occur in patients with a variety of illnesses and are referred to as the euthyroid sick syndrome or nonthyroidal illness (NTI). In NTI, serum concentrations of T3 decrease to low, or even undetectable, levels without giving rise to elevated concentrations of TSH. We hypothesized that decreased activity of TRH-producing cells in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) contributes to the persistence of low TSH levels. To test this hypothesis, we collected a series of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded hypothalami of patients whose plasma concentrations of T3, T4, and TSH had been measured in a blood sample taken less than 24 h before death. Quantitative TRH messenger RNA in situ hybridization (intraassay coefficient of variation 13%) was performed in the PVN. Total TRH messenger RNA in the PVN showed a positive correlation with serum T3 (r = 0.66; P < 0.05) and with logTSH (r = 0.64; P < 0.05), but not with T4 (r = -0.02; P = 0.95). This is the first study to correlate premortem serum concentrations of thyroid hormones with postmortem gene expression of identified neurons in the human hypothalamus. The results suggest an important role for TRH cells in the pathogenesis of NTI.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Expressão Gênica
/
Hormônio Liberador de Tireotropina
/
Hipotálamo
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Clin Endocrinol Metab
Ano de publicação:
1997
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Holanda