Brown Adipose Tissue Response to Cold Stimulation Is Reduced in Girls With Autoimmune Hypothyroidism
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Show full item recordEditorial
Oxford University Press
Materia
Autoimmune Brown adipose tissue Cold-induced thermogenesis Infrared thermography Thyroid hormones
Date
2019-10-11Referencia bibliográfica
Law, J. M., Morris, D. E., Astle, V., Finn, E., Muros, J. J., Robinson, L. J., ... & Budge, H. (2019). Brown adipose tissue response to cold stimulation is reduced in girls with autoimmune hypothyroidism. Journal of the Endocrine Society, 3(12), 2411-2426.
Sponsorship
This work was supported by a pump-priming grant from Nottingham University Hospitals Charity (Grant PP-Law-Nov12).Abstract
The interaction between thyroid status and brown adipose tissue (BAT) activation is
complex. We assessed the effect of autoimmune hypothyroidism (ATD) in female children on BAT
activation, measured using infrared thermography. Participants with ATD had lower resting (hypothyroid, 34.9 +- 0.7°C; control, 35.4 +- 0.5°C; P =
0.03) and stimulated (hypothyroid, 35.0 +- 0.6°C; control, 35.5 +- 0.5°C; P = 0.04) supraclavicular
temperatures compared with controls, but there was no difference between groups in the temperature
increase with stimulation. BAT activation, calculated as the relative temperature change comparing the
supraclavicular temperature to a sternal reference region, was reduced in participants with ATD
(hypothyroid, 0.1 +- 0.1°C; control, 0.2 +- 0.2°C; P = 0.04). Children with ATD were frequently biochemically
euthyroid due to replacement therapy, but, despite this, increased relative supraclavicular
temperature was closely associated with increased TSH (r = 0.7, P = 0.01) concentrations. Girls with ATD had an attenuated thermogenic response to cold stimulation compared
with healthy controls, but, contrary to expectation, those with suboptimal biochemical control (with
higher TSH) showed increased BAT activation. This suggests that the underlying disease process may
have a negative effect on BAT response, but high levels of TSH can mitigate, and even stimulate, BAT
activity. In summary, thyroid status is a complex determinant of BAT activity in girls with ATD.