Deiodinase activities in thyroids and tissues of iodine-deficient female rats.

Severe iodine deficiency is characterized by goiter, preferential synthesis, and secretion of T(3) in thyroids, hypothyroxinemia in plasma and tissues, normal or low plasma T(3), and slightly increased plasma TSH. We studied changes in deiodinase activities and mRNA in several tissues of rats maintained on low-iodine diets (LIDs) or LIDs supplemented with iodine (LID+I). T(4) and T(3) concentrations decreased in plasma, tissues, and thyroids of LID rats, and T(4) decreased more than T(3) (50%). The highest type 1 iodothyronine deiodinase (D1) activities were found in the thyroid, kidney, and the liver; pituitary, lung, and ovary had lower D1 activities; but the lowest levels were found in the heart and skeletal muscle. D1 activity decreased in all tissues of LID rats (10-40% of LID+I rats), except for ovary and thyroids, which D1 activity increased 2.5-fold. Maximal type 2 iodothyronine deiodinase (D2) activities were found in thyroid, brown adipose tissue, and pituitary, increasing 6.5-fold in thyroids of LID rats and about 20-fold in the whole gland. D2 always increased in response to LID, and maximal increases were found in the cerebral cortex (19-fold), thyroid, brown adipose tissue, and pituitary (6-fold). Lower D2 activities were found in the ovary, heart, and adrenal gland, which increased in LID. Type 3 iodothyronine deiodinase activity was undetectable. Thyroidal Dio1 and Dio2 mRNA increased in the LID rats, and Dio1 decreased in the lung, with no changes in mRNA expression in other tissues. Our data indicate that LID induces changes in deiodinase activities, especially in the thyroid, to counteract the low T(4) synthesis and secretion, contributing to maintain the local T(3) concentrations in the tissues with D2 activity.

A moderate and transient deficiency of maternal thyroid function at the beginning of fetal neocorticogenesis alters neuronal migration.

Epidemiological studies and case reports show that even a relatively minor degree of maternal hypothyroxinemia during the first half of gestation is potentially dangerous for optimal fetal neurodevelopment. Our experimental approach was designed to result in a mild and transient period of maternal hypothyroxinemia at the beginning of corticogenesis. Normal rat dams received the goitrogen 2-mercapto-1-methyl-imidazole for only 3 d, from embryonic d 12 (E12) to E15. Maternal thyroid hormones decreased transiently to 70% of normal serum values, without clinical signs of hypothyroidism. Dams were injected daily with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) during 3 d, from E14-E16 or E17-E19. Their pups were tested for audiogenic seizure susceptibility 39 d after birth (P39) and killed at P40. Cells that had incorporated BrdU were identified by immunocytochemistry, and quantified: numerous heterotopic cells were found, whether labeled at E14-E16 or E17-E19, that were identified as neurons. The cytoarchitecture and the radial distribution of BrdU-labeled neurons was significantly affected in the somatosensory cortex and hippocampus of 83% of the pups. The radial distribution of gamma-aminobutyric acidergic neurons was, however, normal. The infusion of dams with T4 between E13 and E15 avoided these alterations, which were not prevented when the T4 infusion was delayed to E15-E18. In total, 52% of the pups born to the goitrogen-treated dams responded to an acoustic stimulus with wild runs, followed in some by seizures. When extrapolated to man, these results stress the need for prevention of hypothyroxinemia before midpregnancy, however moderate, and whichever the underlying cause.

Early maternal hypothyroxinemia alters histogenesis and cerebral cortex cytoarchitecture of the progeny.

Epidemiological studies from both iodine-sufficient and -deficient human populations strongly suggest that early maternal hypothyroxinemia (i.e., low circulating free thyroxine before onset of fetal thyroid function at midgestation) increases the risk of neurodevelopmental deficits of the fetus, whether or not the mother is clinically hypothyroid. Rat dams on a low iodine intake are hypothyroxinemic without being clinically hypothyroid because, as occurs in pregnant women, their circulating 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine level is usually normal. We studied cell migration and cytoarchitecture in the somatosensory cortex and hippocampus of the 40-day-old progeny of the iodine-deficient dams and found a significant proportion of cells at locations that were aberrant or inappropriate with respect to their birth date. Most of these cells were neurons, as assessed by single- and double-label immunostaining. The cytoarchitecture of the somatosensory cortex and hippocampus was also affected, layering was blurred, and, in the cortex, normal barrels were not formed. We believe that this is the first direct evidence of an alteration in fetal brain histogenesis and cytoarchitecture that could only be related to early maternal hypothyroxinemia. This condition may be 150-200 times more common than congenital hypothyroidism and ought to be prevented both by mass screening of free thyroxine in early pregnancy and by early iodine supplementation to avoid iodine deficiency, however mild.