Abstract A cytochemical bioassay for thyroid stimulators which utilised 12 um sections of guinea pig thyroid as the target tissue was validated and applied to the measurement of thyroid stimulating antibodies (T.S.Ab.) in human plasma. T.S.H. and T.S.Ab. could be distinguished in the assay by the times at which they produced maximal responses; 90 seconds for T.S.H. and 180 seconds for T.S.Ab. Homogeneity of response to stimulation was relatively uniform throughout thyroid tissue enabling simultaneous measurement of several plasma samples per guinea pig. Sensitivity of the assay was 1.5 ± 10−9 mU/1 MRC L.A.T.S.-B. Antiserum to H-T.S.H. produced no significant change in T.S.Ab.-like activity when added to plasma from a thyrotoxic patient. Both anti-IgG and aliquots of a homogenate of thyroid tissue from a thyrotoxic patient diminished responses of thyrotoxic plasma in a concentration dependent manner. T.S.Ab. was present at titres of 1/100 to 1/100,00 in 13 hyperthyroid patients tested to date.
Abstract. Hyperprolactinaemic patients occasionally demonstrate hirsutism and elevated levels of DHA-S, a weak androgen of adrenal origin. Abnormal adrenal function is frequently observed in hirsute patients. These observations prompted speculation that prolactin may modulate normal adrenal secretion and that derangements of adrenal androgen secretion may be due to abnormalities in prolactin. In this study we examined the possibility that elevated prolactin levels may be involved in the pathogenesis of hyperandrogenaemia in hirsute patients. However, basal prolactin levels in hirsute women, with or without menstrual disturbances, 201 ± 24.3 mU/l (mean ± se ) and 192 ± 24.3 mU/l respectively, were significantly suppressed below levels in normal women, 289 ± 12.2 mU/l. The prolactin responses to stimulation with TRH and to suppression with l -dopa were also studied in hirsute patients. The prolactin response to TRH (maximum increment or integrated response) was exaggerated significantly in hirsute women with menstrual disturbances when compared to normal women, to hirsute women with normal menses or to normal men. This abnormal response may have been due to elevated oestrone levels present in patients with oligomenorrhoea (318 ± 49.5 pmol/l compared to 191 ± 12.1 pmol/l in normal women and 161 ± 15.5 pmol/l in hirsute women with normal menses, P < 0.05). There were no abnormalities detected in the suppression of prolactin in response to l -dopa in any of these groups. These findings do not support a role for prolactin in the pathogenesis of hyperandrogenaemia in hirsute patients. However, elevated androgen levels in women may bring about suppression of basal prolactin levels to values seen in normal men. In addition elevated oestrone levels may exaggerate the stimulatory effect of TRH on prolactin secretion. as was seen in oligomenorrhoeic hirsute women.
Background: Maintenance of adequate iodide supply to the developing fetus is dependent not only on maternal dietary iodine intake but also on placental iodide transport. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of different pregnancy-associated hormones on the uptake of radioiodide by the placenta and to determine if iodide transporter expression is affected by hormone incubation. Methods: Primary cultures of placental trophoblast cells were established from placentas obtained at term from pre-labor caesarean sections. They were pre-incubated with 17β-estradiol, prolactin, oxytocin, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and progesterone either singly or in combination over 12 h with 125I uptake being measured after 6 h. RNA was isolated from placental trophoblasts and real-time RT-PCR performed using sodium iodide symporter (NIS) and pendrin (PDS) probes. Results: Significant dose response increments in 125I uptake by trophoblast cells (p < 0.01) were observed following incubation with hCG (60% increase), oxytocin (45% increase) and prolactin (32% increase). Although progesterone (50-200 ng/ml) and 17β-estradiol (1,000-15,000 pg/ml) alone produced no significant differences in uptake, they facilitated increased uptake when combined with prolactin or oxytocin, with a combination of all four hormones producing the greatest increase (82%). Increased 125I uptake was accompanied by corresponding increments in NIS mRNA (ratio 1.52) compared to untreated control cells. No significantly increased expression levels of PDS were observed. Conclusions: Pregnancy-associated hormones, particularly oxytocin and hCG, have a role in promoting placental iodide uptake which may protect the fetus against iodine deficiency.
Despite extensive study, evidence to support a direct relationship between diseases of the thyroid and breast has not been established. In this study thyroid volume was assessed by ultrasound in 200 patients with breast cancer and 354 with benign breast disease. Results were compared to appropriate female control groups. Both mean thyroid volume (21.1 +/- 1.4 mL) and the percentage of individual patients with enlarged (> 18.0 mL) thyroid glands (41.5%) were significantly greater in the breast cancer group than equivalent values (13.2 +/- 0.5 mL and 10.5%, respectively) in age-matched controls (P < 0.01 in both cases). The mean thyroid volume of 14.5 +/- 0.34 mL in patients with benign breast disease was also significantly greater than that of 12.5 +/- 0.38 mL in younger controls (P < 0.01). The results support a direct association between breast cancer and increased thyroid volume as mean thyroid volumes and the percentage of individual patients with enlarged thyroid glands were similar in those studied both before (20.8 +/- 1.3 mL and 43.0%) and after (21.4 +/- 1.6 mL and 40.0%) therapies for breast cancer. Although there is no evidence that thyroid enlargement represents a risk factor for breast cancer, the results emphasize the importance of raising the consciousness of the coincidence of both disorders.
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