Impaired thyroid function in murine toxoplasmosis.

Abstract

A decline in serum thyroxine (T4) occurs in Nya: NYLAR female mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii. To ascertain whether the hypothyroxinaemia might be the result of primary thyroid dysfunction, 2 parameters of thyrofollicular cell function were monitored to determine (a) if the cell surface membrane receptors for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were operative, and (b) whether the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent cascade of intracellular events leading to the release of T4 was responsive to exogenous cAMP. Our results indicated that both parameters were intact and functional in the infected-mouse thyrocytes. However, the elicited T4 responses were distinctly diminished in magnitude, reflecting a lack of readily available thyroidal T4 reserves. Because the continuing synthesis, storage, and release of T4 is dependent on the pulsatile stimulation of the thyroid by TSH, we suggest that the depletion of T4 reserves is likely due to perturbation of the pulsatile release of TSH from the pituitary, rather than to primary thyroid malfunction.