title: Evidence for circadian variations of thyroid hormone concentrations and type II 5'-iodothyronine deiodinase activity in the rat central nervous system.
abstract: The 24-h patterns of tissue thyroid hormone concentrations and type II 5'- and type III 5-iodothyronine deiodinase (5'D-II and 5D-III, respectively) activities were determined at 4-h intervals in different brain regions of male euthyroid rats entrained to a regular 12-h light/12-h dark cycle (lights on at 6:00 a.m.). Activity of 5'D-II, which catalyzes the intracellular conversion of thyroxine (T4) to 3,3',5-triiodo-L-thyronine (T3) in the CNS, and the tissue concentrations of both T4 and T3 exhibited significant daily variations in all brain regions examined. Periodic regression analysis revealed significant circadian rhythms with amplitudes ranging from 9 to 23% (for T3) and from 15 to 40% (for T4 and 5'D-II) of the daily mean value. 5'D-II activity showed a marked nocturnal increase (1.3-2.1-fold vs. daytime basal value), with a maximum at the end of the dark period and a minimum between noon and 4:00 p.m. 5D-III did not exhibit circadian patterns of variation in any of the brain tissues investigated. Our results disclose circadian rhythms of 5'D-II activity and thyroid hormone concentrations in discrete brain regions of rats entrained to a regular 12:12-h light-dark cycle and reveal that, in the rat CNS, T3 biosynthesis is activated during the dark phase of the photoperiod. For all parameters under investigation, the patterns of variation observed were in part regionally specific, indicating that different regulatory mechanisms may be involved in generating the observed rhythms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Diagnostics and Nuclear Medicine, Klinikum Benjamin Franklin, Free University of Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campos-Barros
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Musa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flechner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hessenius
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gaio
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meinhold
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baumgartner
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology*; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D007453:Iodide Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D014284:Triiodothyronine; D013972:Thyrotropin; D007453:Iodide Peroxidase; D013974:Thyroxine