Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Division of Anatomic Pathology and Histology, Department of Experimental Medicine, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Mediators Inflamm. 2017;2017:8102170. doi: 10.1155/2017/8102170. Epub 2017 Dec 11.
Prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and its impact on cognition in older people has been demonstrated, but many points remain unclarified. In order to study the effect of aging on the thyroid gland, we compared the thyroid gland of very old mice with that of younger ones. We have first investigated the changes of thyroid microstructure and the possibility that molecules involved in thyroid function might be associated with structural changes. Results from this study indicate changes in the height of the thyrocytes and in the amplitude of interfollicular spaces, anomalous expression/localization of thyrotropin, thyrotropin receptor, and thyroglobulin aging. Thyrotropin and thyrotropin receptor are upregulated and are distributed inside the colloid while thyroglobulin fills the interfollicular spaces. In an approach aimed at defining the behavior of molecules that change in different physiopathological conditions of thyroid, such as galectin-3 and sphingomyelinase, we then wondered what was their behavior in the thyroid gland in aging. Importantly, in comparison with the thyroid of young animals, we have found a higher expression of galectin-3 and a delocalization of neutral sphingomyelinase in the thyroid of old animals. A possible relationship between galectin-3, neutral sphingomyelinase, and aging has been discussed.
甲状腺功能障碍及其对老年人认知的影响已得到证实，但仍有许多问题尚未阐明。为了研究衰老对甲状腺的影响，我们比较了非常老的老鼠和年轻老鼠的甲状腺。我们首先研究了甲状腺微观结构的变化，以及参与甲状腺功能的分子是否与结构变化有关。这项研究的结果表明，甲状腺细胞的高度和滤泡间空间的幅度发生了变化，促甲状腺激素、促甲状腺激素受体和甲状腺球蛋白的表达/定位异常。促甲状腺激素和促甲状腺激素受体上调，并分布在胶体中，而甲状腺球蛋白填充滤泡间空间。在一种旨在定义在甲状腺不同生理病理条件下发生变化的分子行为的方法中，如半乳糖凝集素-3 和神经鞘磷脂酶，我们想知道它们在衰老的甲状腺中的行为。重要的是，与年轻动物的甲状腺相比，我们发现老年动物的甲状腺中半乳糖凝集素-3 的表达更高，中性神经鞘磷脂酶的定位也发生了改变。还讨论了半乳糖凝集素-3、中性神经鞘磷脂酶和衰老之间的可能关系。
