Abstract
The thyroid hormone plays a vital role in the development and maturation of the nervous system not only during prenatal and perinatal age but also in adults. “Peripheral marker hypothesis” revealed that gene expression changes in some regions of the brain are reflected into the peripheral blood lymphocytes. The objective of the study was to investigate changes in the gene expression profile of neuropeptides and their receptors in patients with different forms of thyroid pathology. One hundred fifty-three patients with thyroid pathology were enrolled in the study. They were divided into three groups: group 1 included 16 patients with postoperative hypothyroidism, group 2 included 65 patients with hypothyroidism resulting from autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT), and group 3 included 72 patients with AIT and elevated levels of anti-thyroglobulin (anti-Tg) and anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) antibodies in the serum. We used a pathway-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) array (RT2 Profiler™ PCR Array Human Neurotrophins & Receptors, QIAGEN, Germany) to identify and verify neuropeptides and receptors pathway-focused gene expression in 12 individuals that were randomly selected from each group using real-time PCR. Our research identified that patients with postoperative hypothyroidism had a considerably increased expression of NPY1R, NTSR1, and NPY4R. The patients with hypothyroidism caused by autoimmune thyroiditis had considerably lower expression of NTSR1, while the expression of NPY1R increased. The mRNA levels of NPY2R and PNOC increased in the patients with elevated levels of autoantibodies anti-Tg and anti-TPO in the serum, and mRNA levels of NPY1R and NTSR1 decreased in this group of patients.
Highlights
Even though that the effect of thyroid hormones on the brain is not in doubt, the mechanism of their effect on the brain of an adult is not fully understood [1]
We previously reported that autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) and hypothyroidism could affect the expression of mRNA nerve impulse transmission genes in a gene-specific manner [9]
Our research found that patients with postoperative hypothyroidism had a considerably increased expression of NPY1R, NTSR1, and NPY4R
Summary
Even though that the effect of thyroid hormones on the brain is not in doubt, the mechanism of their effect on the brain of an adult is not fully understood [1]. Over a hundred different neuropeptides can be released from neurons and enter the bloodstream, which are reported to affect the function of immune cells [4]. In addition to being released by neurons, neurotransmitters and neurochemicals are produced by other cells, mainly by lymphocytes [6], which may result in an autocrine and paracrine action on immune cells [7]. The expression of neurotransmitter receptors on lymphocytes permits brain signals to affect the immune system through the peripheral nervous system. In addition to exposure to lymphocytes, other immune cells have receptors for neurotransmitters and neurochemicals, pointing out that neural signaling regulates multiple aspects of the immune response [8]
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