Studies on the Iodide Metabolism and the Expression of Thyroglobulin and Thyroid Peroxidase mRNA in the Thyroid of BB/W Rats

Abstract

BioBreeding/Worcester (BB/W) rats develop insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and lymphocytic thyroiditis (LT) spontaneously. Our previous studies have shown that BB/W (Saitama-Tokyo colony) rats develop LT at about 10 weeks of age. Their serum TSH values increase as LT extends, although their serum thyroid hormone levels remain normal. This indicates that BB/W rats suffer from subclinical hypothyroidism. To investigate whether BB/W rats have a defect in iodide metabolism, the thyroidal radioactive iodine uptake (RAIU) in BB/W rats was examined. Thyroidal RAIU at 3hr in both 8 and 16 week-old BB/W rats was significantly higher than that in age-matched normal Wistar rats. On the other hand, BB/W rats had significantly lower 48hr thyroidal RAIU than normal Wistar rats. This suggests that BB/W rats appear to have some defects in iodide metabolism, especially in iodide organification even before the development of LT. The expression of thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and thyroglobulin (Tg) mRNA in BB/W and Wistar rats was then examined using the Northern blot analysis. The expression of both TPO and Tg mRNA was greatly decreased in BB/W rats compared with that in Wistar rats despite the high serum TSH levels in BB/W rats. This indicates that BB/W rats may have pretranslational defects in TPO and Tg synthesis, resulting in the impaired thyroid hormone synthesis. In the present study, it has been demonstrated that BB/W rats appear to have a defect(s) in iodide metabolism possibly due to some abnormalities in TPO and Tg synthesis.