Altered regulation of thyroid hormone economy under physiological and pathophysiological conditions
During development, the negative thyroid hormone (TH) feedback setting ("set-point") of the hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis is fixed for the entire life-span, but TH levels required for optimal tissue function vary in an age-dependent manner. However, the feedback regulation of the HPT axis is not able to adapt to this changing demand by changing the fixed set-point, that may contribute to age-dependent impairments of tissue function. Our aim is to investigate whether there are mechanisms that may contribute to age-dependent regulation of tissue-specific TH homeostasis despite the fixed set-point of the HPT axis.
These studies are performed using the Thyroid Hormone Action Indicator (THAI) mouse model in different age groups.
The Non-thyroidal illness, also known as low T3 syndrome (NTIS) is pathophysiological condition with controversial pathogenesis that accompanies severe clinical pathologies with altered HPT responsiveness. We investigate the pathogenesis of the syndrome in different NTIS models.