Laboratório de Endocrinologia Translacional, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
Laboratório de Endocrinologia Molecular e Translacional, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.
Sci Rep. 2023 Aug 2;13(1):12497. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-39514-7.
Hashimoto thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease characterized by hypothyroidism and a high level of anti-thyroid autoantibodies. It has shown to negatively impact female fertility; however, the mechanisms are unclear. Ovarian follicular fluid appears to be the key to understanding how Hashimoto thyroiditis affecst fertility. Thus, we aimed to evaluated the metabolic profile of follicular fluid and antithyroid autoantibody levels in the context of Hashimoto thyroiditis. We collected follicular fluid from 61 patients, namely 38 women with thyroid autoantibody positivity and 23 women as negative controls, undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment. Follicular fluid samples were analyzed using metabolomics, and thyroid autoantibodies were measured. Fifteen metabolites with higher concentrations in the follicular fluid samples from Hashimoto thyroiditis were identified, comprising five possible affected pathways: the glycerophospholipid, arachidonic acid, linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, and sphingolipid metabolism pathways. These pathways are known to regulate ovarian functions. In addition, antithyroglobulin antibody concentrations in both serum and follicular fluid were more than tenfold higher in women with Hashimoto thyroiditis than in controls. Our data showed that the metabolic profile of follicular fluid is altered in women with Hashimoto thyroiditis, suggesting a potential mechanistic explanation for the association of this disease with female infertility.
桥本甲状腺炎是一种自身免疫性疾病，其特征为甲状腺功能减退症和高水平的抗甲状腺自身抗体。它已被证明会对女性生育能力产生负面影响，但具体机制尚不清楚。卵巢卵泡液似乎是理解桥本甲状腺炎如何影响生育能力的关键。因此，我们旨在评估桥本甲状腺炎患者的卵泡液代谢特征和抗甲状腺自身抗体水平。我们收集了 61 名患者的卵泡液，其中 38 名女性甲状腺自身抗体阳性，23 名女性作为阴性对照，均接受体外受精治疗。使用代谢组学分析卵泡液样本，并测量甲状腺自身抗体。鉴定出桥本甲状腺炎患者卵泡液样本中 15 种浓度较高的代谢物，包括五个可能受影响的途径：甘油磷脂、花生四烯酸、亚油酸、α-亚麻酸和鞘脂代谢途径。这些途径已知可调节卵巢功能。此外，桥本甲状腺炎患者血清和卵泡液中的甲状腺球蛋白抗体浓度比对照组高十倍以上。我们的数据表明，桥本甲状腺炎患者的卵泡液代谢特征发生了改变，这为该疾病与女性不孕之间的关联提供了潜在的机制解释。
