Inhibition of thyrotropin response to TSH-releasing hormone by thyroxine in hypothyroid rats

Pharmacological amounts of throxine (T4) can inhibit the thyrotropin (TSH) response to TSH-releasing hormone (TRH) before its conversion to triiodothyronine (T3) in the hypophysis of euthyroid rate. The present work tested physiological doses of T4 in hypothyroid rats. Rats were treated with iopanoic acid (IOP) 5 mg/100 g BW 24, 12 and 1.5 hours preceding the study, to prevent intrapituitary conversion of T4 to T3. Nonradioactive T4 was injected iv at time 0. At 20 min a 1 μg/100 g BW dose of TRH was injected iv. Blood samples were drawn at times 0, 20, and 30 min for determination by radioimmunoassay of plasma T4, T3, and TSH. In untreated rats basal TSH was 1450 +- 200 (SEM) μU/ml. At 20 min it was 105 +- 12% the basal value and at 30 min (10 min post-TRH) plasma TSH rose to 165 +- 14%. In T4-treated rats, those injected with IOP or with the vehicle alone both had the TSH response suppressed. IOP reduced intrapitutiary T3 from 4.6 +- 2.4 to 0.5 +- 0.2 fmol/min/gland. Thirty min. following the iv injection of 150 μCi of double-labeled /sup 125/I-T4, the in vitro cytoplasmic radioactivity in control rats was 1.3 +- 0.13 x 10-/sup 2/% of the injected dose (75% T4, 17% T3), while in nuclei it was 4.2 +- 3.6 x 10-/sup 3/% (5l% T4, 28% T3). The injection of 25 μg of nonradioactive T4 decreased /sup 125/I-T4 in cytoplasm with no changes in nuclei. These findings suggest an intrinsic capacity of T4 to control TRH stimulation of TSH through binding to cytoplasmic receptors