An appropriate model for congenital hypothyroidism in the rat induced by neonatal treatment with propylthiouracil and surgical thyroidectomy: studies on learning ability and biochemical parameters.

Hypothyroidism was induced in rats by treatment with propylthiouracil through the mother's milk throughout the suckling period followed by surgical thyroidectomy without use of radioiodine. The growth of these animals was considerably retarded and their light-dark discriminative operant learning ability was also significantly decreased. Replacement therapy with thyroxine to maintain its normal serum concentration was effective for continuing normal growth and development of learning ability. Therefore, these hypothyroid rats are a useful model of congenital hypothyroidism. Biochemical studies showed that the inhibition of cerebral Na,K-ATPase and succinic dehydrogenase activities detected in early postnatal life in these hypothyroid rats was transient and that normal activities of these enzymes were later regained in adult rats. However, the activity of 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase and the brain myelin remained low throughout life unless thyroxine was administered. Though a critical correlation between biochemical parameters and learning ability is still uncertain, these results suggest that the formation of myelin in the neonatal period is at least dependent on thyroid hormone and would play an important role in mental development.