The Immune System as a Regulator of Thyroid Hormone Activity

John R. Klein
Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Dental Branch, University of Texas Health Science Center,Houston, TX 77030

Although the mechanisms behind this are poorly understood, they appear to reflect a process of local intrathyroidal synthesis of TSH mediated by a population of bone marrow cells that traffic to the thyroid.

This hitherto undescribed cell population has the potential to microregulate thyroid hormone secretion leading to critical alterations in metabolic activity independent of pituitary TSH output, and it has expansive implications for understanding mechanisms by which the immune system may act to modulate neuroendocrine function during times of host stress. In this article, the basic underpinnings of the hematopoietic-thyroid connection are described, and a model is presented in which the immune system participates in the regulation of thyroid hormone activity during acute infection.

Exp Biol Med 231:229–236, 2006

http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/reprint/231/3/229