Effects of hypothyroidism on rat circadian activity and temperature rhythms and their response to light

Thyroid-stimulating hormone-thyroid hormone signaling contributes to circadian regulation through repressing clock2/npas2 in zebrafish

Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is important for the thyroid gland, development, growth, and metabolism. Defects in TSH production or the thyrotrope cells within the pituitary gland cause congenital hypothyroidism (CH), resulting in growth retardation and neurocognitive impairment. While human TSH is known to display rhythmicity, the molecular mechanisms underlying the circadian regulation of TSH and the effects of TSH-thyroid hormone (TH) signaling on the circadian clock remain elusive. Here we show that TSH, thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), and tshba display rhythmicity in both larval and adult zebrafish and tshba is regulated directly by the circadian clock via both E'-box and D-box. Zebrafish tshba-/- mutants manifest congenital hypothyroidism, with the characteristics of low levels of T4 and T3 and growth retardation. Loss or overexpression of tshba alters the rhythmicity of locomotor activities and expression of core circadian clock genes and hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis-related genes. Furthermore, TSH-TH signaling regulates clock2/npas2 via the thyroid response element (TRE) in its promoter, and transcriptome analysis reveals extensive functions of Tshba in zebrafish. Together, our results demonstrate that zebrafish tshba is a direct target of the circadian clock and in turn plays critical roles in circadian regulation along with other functions.

Unveiling the nongenomic actions of thyroid hormones in adult mammalian brain: The legacy of Mary B. Dratman

A comprehensive review was conducted to compile the contributions of Mary B. Dratman and studies by other researchers in the field of nongenomic actions of thyroid hormones in adult mammalian brain. Dratman and her collaborators authored roughly half of the papers in this area. It has been almost fifty years since Dratman introduced the novel concept of thyroid hormones as neurotransmitters for the first time. The characterization of unique brain-region specific accumulation of thyroid hormones within the nerve terminals in adult mammals was a remarkable contribution by Dratman. It suggested a neurotransmitter- or neuromodulator-like role of thyroid hormone and/or its derivative, 3-iodothyronamine within adrenergic systems in adult mammalian brain. Several studies by other researchers using synaptosomes as a model system, have contributed to the concept of direct nongenomic actions of thyroid hormones at synaptic regions by establishing that thyroid hormones or their derivatives can bind to synaptosomal membranes, alter membrane functions including enzymatic activities and ion transport, elicit Ca2+/NO-dependent signaling pathways and induce substrate-protein phosphorylation. Such findings can help to explain the physiological and pathophysiological roles of thyroid hormone in psychobehavioral control in adult mammalian brain. However, the exact mode of nongenomic actions of thyroid hormones at nerve terminals in adult mammalian brain awaits further study.

eDGAR: a database of Disease-Gene Associations with annotated Relationships among genes

BACKGROUND

Genetic investigations, boosted by modern sequencing techniques, allow dissecting the genetic component of different phenotypic traits. These efforts result in the compilation of lists of genes related to diseases and show that an increasing number of diseases is associated with multiple genes. Investigating functional relations among genes associated with the same disease contributes to highlighting molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis.

RESULTS

We present eDGAR, a database collecting and organizing the data on gene/disease associations as derived from OMIM, Humsavar and ClinVar. For each disease-associated gene, eDGAR collects information on its annotation. Specifically, for lists of genes, eDGAR provides information on: i) interactions retrieved from PDB, BIOGRID and STRING; ii) co-occurrence in stable and functional structural complexes; iii) shared Gene Ontology annotations; iv) shared KEGG and REACTOME pathways; v) enriched functional annotations computed with NET-GE; vi) regulatory interactions derived from TRRUST; vii) localization on chromosomes and/or co-localisation in neighboring loci. The present release of eDGAR includes 2672 diseases, related to 3658 different genes, for a total number of 5729 gene-disease associations. 71% of the genes are linked to 621 multigenic diseases and eDGAR highlights their common GO terms, KEGG/REACTOME pathways, physical and regulatory interactions. eDGAR includes a network based enrichment method for detecting statistically significant functional terms associated to groups of genes.

CONCLUSIONS

eDGAR offers a resource to analyze disease-gene associations. In multigenic diseases genes can share physical interactions and/or co-occurrence in the same functional processes. eDGAR is freely available at: edgar.biocomp.unibo.it.

Comparison of heat and cold stress to assess thermoregulatory dysfunction in hypothyroid rats

How borderline impairment of thyroid function can affect thermoregulation is an important issue because of the antithyroidal properties of a many environmental toxicants. This study compared the efficacy of heat and cold stress to identify thermoregulatory deficits in rats subjected to borderline and overt hypothyroidism via subchronic exposure to propylthiouracil (PTU). After 3 wk of exposure to PTU in the drinking water (0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 25 mg/l), rats were subjected to a heat stress challenge (34 degrees C for 2.5 h). After one more week of PTU treatment, the same rats were subjected to a cold stress challenge (7 degrees C for 2.5 h). Core temperature (T(c)) was monitored by radiotelemetry. Baseline T(c) during the light phase was reduced by treatment with 25 mg/l PTU. The rate of rise and overall increase in T(c) during heat stress was attenuated by PTU doses of 10 and 25 mg/l. Cold stress resulted in a 1.0 degrees C increase in T(c) regardless of PTU treatment. The rate of rise in T(c) during the cold stress challenge was similar in all PTU treatment groups. There was a dose-related decrease in serum thyroxine (T(4)) at PTU doses >/=5 mg/l. Serum triiodothyronine (T(3)) was reduced at PTU doses of 5 and 25 mg/l. Serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) was marginally elevated by PTU treatment. Overall, heat stress was more effective than cold stress for detecting a thermoregulatory deficit in borderline (i.e., 10 mg/l PTU) and overtly hypothyroid rats (i.e., 25 mg/l PTU). A significant thermoregulatory deficit is manifested with a 78% decrease in serum T(4). A thermoregulatory deficit is more correlated with a reduction in serum T(4) compared with T(3). Serum levels of TSH are unrelated to thermoregulatory response to heat and cold stress.

Free thyroxine and thyroid-stimulating hormone levels in patients with seasonal affective disorder and matched controls

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is characterized by recurrent episodes of depression in the fall and winter that alternate with nondepressed periods in the spring and summer. Because some symptoms of SAD, such as decreased energy and weight gain, also occur in hypothyroidism, it is possible that individuals with SAD have a subtle decrease in thyroid function. To test this hypothesis, we studied blood levels of free thyroxine (T4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in SAD patients and matched controls in the winter. We found that free T4 blood levels were slightly but significantly lower in patients than in healthy volunteers. The difference between TSH levels in SAD patients and controls was not statistically significant. Future research will be needed to determine whether the difference in thyroid function between SAD patients and controls is an epiphenomenon or is related to the biological mechanisms that cause symptoms of SAD.

Behavioral and autonomic thermoregulation in the rat following propylthiouracil-induced hypothyroidism

A reduced body temperature is a common symptom of hypothyroidism and may result from a deficiency in metabolic heat production. However, a reduced metabolism does not necessarily imply a failure in thermoregulatory control if other thermoeffectors, in particular behavioral thermoregulation, are operative. To address this issue, selected ambient temperature (Ta) in a temperature gradient, core temperature (Tc), heart rate (HR), and motor activity (MA) were monitored via radiotelemetry in euthyroid rats and rats made hypothyroid by the administration of 0.05 mg/ml propylthiouracil (PTU) in drinking water for approximately 15 days. Core temperature of PTU-treated rats was reduced by 0.3 degree, whereas selected Ta was increased by 2.3 degrees. PTU treatment led to significant reductions in HR, whereas MA was unaffected. Thermoregulatory behavior did not reverse the PTU-induced hypothermia, suggesting that PTU-induced hypothyroidism leads to a regulated reduction in body temperature (i.e., decrease in the set point). A reduced set point seems to be an adaptive response that lowers the metabolic requirements for thermoregulation in the hypothyroid rat.

Circadian rhythms and the pharmacology of affective illness

The chronic effects of antidepressant drugs (ADs) on circadian rhythms of behavior, physiology and endocrinology are reviewed. The timekeeping properties of several classes of ADs, including tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, serotonin agonists and antagonists, benzodiazepines, and melatonin are reviewed. Pharmacological effects on the circadian amplitude and phase, as well as effects on day-night measurements of motor activity, sleep-wake, body temperature (Tb), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, cortisol, thyroid hormone, prolactin, growth hormone and melatonin are examined. ADs often lower nocturnal Tb and affect the homeostatic regulation of sleep. ADs often advance the timing and decrease the amount of slow wave sleep, reduce rapid eye movement sleep and increase or decrease arousal. Together, AD effects on nocturnal Tb and sleep may be related to their therapeutic properties. ADs sometimes delay nocturnal cortisol timing and increase nocturnal melatonin, thyroid hormone and prolactin levels; these effects often vary with diagnosis, and clinical state. The effects of ADs on the coupling of the central circadian pacemaker to photic and nonphotic zeitgebers are discussed.

Exogenous melatonin entrains rhythm and reduces amplitude of endogenous melatonin: an in vivo microdialysis study

The circadian rhythm of melatonin production was studied using on-line, in vivo microdialysis in the rat pineal gland. With this technique it was possible to record a pronounced melatonin rhythm with very high time resolution. Three phase-markers of the rhythm were calculated from the data, indicating increase (IT50), decrease (DT50) and amplitude of the rhythm. Comparing these phase markers led to several conclusions. Entrainment of the rhythm under constant darkness was performed with melatonin administration at different circadian stages [circadian time (CT) 8 and CT12] and for different periods of time (2 weeks and 4 weeks). Also, entrainment was established by applying 15 min light pulses at CT0. Entrainment of IT50 with melatonin partially uncoupled it from DT50. Four weeks entrainment in constant darkness (DD) caused a phase-delay in DT50 of 2.2 hr. Entrainment of IT50 with light at CT0 for 2 weeks in DD caused a phase-advance in DT50 of 1.3 hr. The entrainment with melatonin was restricted to a narrow window for melatonin to be applied, since injections at CT8 did not result in entrainment. Exogenous melatonin reduced the amplitude of the rhythm of endogenous melatonin. This effect was not circadian time dependent, since administration at CT8 for 2 weeks and at CT12 for 4 weeks resulted in a highly significant decrease. Light did not seem to have an effect on the amplitude. The data presented here provide us with new information about the nature of entrainment by melatonin. Since the present development of melatonergic agents for clinical use focuses on the entrainment capacity, effects of these compounds on amplitude of circadian rhythms needs to be addressed. In vivo microdialysis seems to be a good technique for that.

The interaction of thyroid state, MAOI drug treatment, and light on the level and circadian pattern of wheel-running in rats

In order to examine the relationship between thyroid status, the circadian system, and antidepressant drug response, the antidepressant drug clorgyline, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), was administered chronically to sham-operated or thyroparathyroidectomized rats. Wheel-running was monitored continuously in a light-dark (LD) cycle, and then in constant dim light. In LD, MAOI treatment increased levels of running. This effect was delayed in hypothyroid rats relative to euthyroid rats. In constant light, the MAOI-induced increase in running was diminished in euthyroid but not hypothyroid animals. Hypothyroid animals were less responsive to the change in lighting than were euthyroid animals, and this was more apparent in hypothyroid rats given MAOI. The daily pattern of running differed with lighting condition as well as with treatment group. MAOI-treatment of hypothyroid animals phase-advanced the pattern of wheel-running. MAOI-treatment of control animals increased the amplitude of wheel-running particularly in the LD cycle. These results indicate that thyroid status, lighting, and MAOI treatment interact to alter the behavioral response to chronic drug treatment.

Thyroid function before and after four-week light treatment in winter depressives and controls

Thyroid function in patients in a current major depressive episode during the course of recurrent major mood disorder with seasonal pattern according to DSM-IIIR was compared to that of controls before and after 4 weeks' light treatment, and to that of controls at baseline and after 4 weeks' of arising early without exposure to bright light. No consistent abnormalities in thyroxine, free thyroxine index, triiodothyronine, reverse triiodothyronine, thyrotropin, thyrotropin response to TRH infusion, or thyroid autoantibodies were seen in depressives at baseline. No differences in these parameters were seen at baseline between depressives and controls. No intergroup differences were seen with treatment, although reverse T3 decreased significantly during the protocol in all groups. These data do not support the hypothesis that the thyroid axis plays a role in the pathogenesis of winter depressive symptoms or their response to light treatment.