Profound changes in thyroid hormone metabolism occur in the central part of the hypothalamus–pituitary–thyroid (HPT) axis during fasting. Hypothalamic changes are partly reversed by leptin administration, which decreases during fasting. It is unknown to what extent leptin affects the HPT axis at the level of the pituitary. We, therefore, studied fasting-induced alterations in pituitary thyroid hormone metabolism, as well as effects of leptin administration on these changes. Because refeeding rapidly increased serum leptin, the same parameters were studied after fasting followed by refeeding. Fasting for 24 h decreased serum T3 and T4 and pituitary TSHβ, type 2deiodinase (D2), and thyroid hormone receptor β2 (TRβ2) mRNA expression. The decrease in D2 and TRβ2 mRNA expression was prevented when 20 μg leptin was administered twice during fasting. By contrast, the decrease in TSHβ mRNA expression was unaffected. A single dose of leptin given after 24 h fasting did not affect decreased TSHβ, D2, and TRβ2 mRNA expression, while 4 h refeeding resulted in pituitary D2 and TRβ2 mRNA expression as observed in control mice. Serum leptin, T3, and T4 after refeeding were similar compared with leptin administration. We conclude that fasting decreases pituitary TSHβ, D2, and TRβ2 mRNA expression, which (with the exception of TSHβ) can be prevented by leptin administration during fasting. Following 24 h fasting, 4 h refeeding completely restores pituitary D2 and TRβ2 mRNA expression, while a single leptin dose is ineffective. This indicates that other postingestion signals may be necessary to modulate rapidly the fasting-induced decrease in pituitary D2 and TRβ2 mRNA expression.
Lacking thyroid hormone receptor β gene does not influence alterations in peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism during acute illness