Department of Endocrinology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
Shandong Key Laboratory of Endocrinology and Lipid Metabolism, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Jinan, China.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020 Sep 18;10:495. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00495. eCollection 2020.
Thyroxine metabolism is an important topic of pathogenesis research and treatment schedule of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH). L-Thyroxine replacement therapy (LRT) is usually recommended for severe SCH patients only. Our previous studies reported that disordered serum lipid of mild SCH people could also benefit from LRT. However, the benefits were different among individuals, as shown by the variations in drug dosage that required to maintain thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) stability. Alternative pathways, such as sulfation and glucuronidation of iodothyronine, may play a role in thyroid hormones metabolism in peripheral tissues aside from thyroid. Conjugated thyroxine can be hydrolyzed and reused in tissues including gastrointestinal tract, in which gut microbiota are one of the most attractive physiological components. On this site, the roles of gut microbiota in thyroidal metabolism should be valued. In this study, a cross-sectional study was performed by analyzing 16S rDNA of gut microbiota in mild SCH patients treated with L-thyroxine or not. Subjects were divided by serum lipid level, L-thyroxine treatment, or L-thyroxine dosage, respectively. Relationship between gut microbiome and serum profile, L-thyroxine treatment, and dose were discussed. Other metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension were also taken into consideration. It turned out that microbiome varied among individuals divided by dose and the increment of L-thyroxine but not by serum lipid profile. Relative abundance of certain species that were associated with thyroxine metabolism were found varied among different L-thyroxine doses although in relatively low abundance. Moreover, serum cholesterol may perform relevance effects with L-thyroxine in shaping microbiome. Our findings suggested that the differences in L-thyroxine dosage required to maintain TSH level stability, as well as the SCH development, which was displayed by the increased L-thyroxine doses in subsequent follow-up, had relationship with gut microbial composition. The reason may due to the differences in thyroxine metabolic capacity in gut. In addition, the metabolic similarity of iodothyronines and bile acid in gut also provides possibilities for the correlation between host's thyroxine and cholesterol levels. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov as number NCT01848171.
甲状腺素代谢是亚临床甲状腺功能减退症(SCH)发病机制研究和治疗方案的重要课题。左旋甲状腺素替代疗法(LRT)通常仅推荐用于严重 SCH 患者。我们之前的研究报告称,轻度 SCH 患者的血清脂质紊乱也可以从 LRT 中受益。然而,个体之间的获益不同,这表现为维持促甲状腺激素(TSH)稳定所需的药物剂量不同。除了甲状腺之外,碘甲状腺素的磺化和葡萄糖醛酸化等替代途径可能在外周组织的甲状腺激素代谢中发挥作用。共轭甲状腺素可以在包括胃肠道在内的组织中被水解和再利用,其中肠道微生物群是最具吸引力的生理成分之一。在这个部位,应该重视肠道微生物群在甲状腺代谢中的作用。在这项研究中,通过分析接受或未接受 L-甲状腺素治疗的轻度 SCH 患者的肠道微生物群 16S rDNA,进行了一项横断面研究。受试者分别按血清脂质水平、L-甲状腺素治疗或 L-甲状腺素剂量进行分组。讨论了肠道微生物组与血清谱、L-甲状腺素治疗和剂量之间的关系。还考虑了其他代谢紊乱,如 2 型糖尿病和高血压。结果表明,按剂量和 L-甲状腺素增加分组的个体之间的微生物组不同,但按血清脂质谱分组的个体之间的微生物组不同。尽管相对丰度较低,但发现与甲状腺素代谢相关的某些物种的相对丰度在不同的 L-甲状腺素剂量之间存在差异。此外,血清胆固醇可能与 L-甲状腺素一起对微生物组产生相关性影响。我们的研究结果表明,维持 TSH 水平稳定所需的 L-甲状腺素剂量的差异以及 SCH 的发展(表现为随后随访中 L-甲状腺素剂量的增加)与肠道微生物组成有关。原因可能是肠道中甲状腺素代谢能力的差异。此外,肠道中碘甲状腺素和胆汁酸的代谢相似性也为宿主甲状腺素和胆固醇水平之间的相关性提供了可能性。这项研究在 ClinicalTrials.gov 注册,编号为 NCT01848171。