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. 2022 Dec;11(1):389-400.
doi: 10.1080/21623945.2022.2104509.

Brown adipose tissue influences adiponectin and thyroid hormone changes during Graves' disease therapy

Wei-En Ho  1 , Lijuan Sun  2 , Hui Jen Goh  2 , Mya Thway Tint  2   3 , Lei Sun  4 , Melvin Khee Shing Leow  1   2   3   5
Affiliations

Brown adipose tissue influences adiponectin and thyroid hormone changes during Graves' disease therapy

Wei-En Ho et al. Adipocyte. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Thyroid hormones (TH), adiponectin and brown adipose tissue (BAT) are regulators of energy homoeostasis. Influence of BAT activity on the relationship between TH and adiponectin remains unexplored. The aim of the study was to identify the relationship between TH and adiponectin and to clarify the impact of active BAT on the metabolic effects of adiponectin before and after the correction of thyrotoxicosis. Twenty-one patients with newly diagnosed hyperthyroidism from Graves' disease were recruited. A titration dosing regimen of thionamide anti-thyroid drug (ATD) was used to establish euthyroidism over 12-24 weeks. Anthropometric, biochemical and adipocytokine parameters were measured before and after control of hyperthyroidism. BAT activity was quantified by fusion 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18 F-FDG) PET/MR imaging, and patients were grouped based on BAT status. Plasma adiponectin level was significantly increased following correction of hyperthyroidism in the overall sample. Free thyroxine (FT4) was also identified as a predictor of adiponectin level in thyroid dysfunction. However, significant changes in adiponectin level and correlations involving adiponectin were absent in BAT-positive patients but maintained in BAT-negative patients. BAT activity diminishes the correlative relationship with body composition and abolishes TH and adiponectin relationships when transitioning from a hyperthyroid to euthyroid state.

Keywords: adiponectin; brown adipose tissue; hyperthyroidism; thyroid hormone; transition.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Study protocol.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Significant Pearson correlations between Δ adiponectin (ng/mL) and (a) Δ FT4, (b) Δ serum cholesterol, (c) Δ HDL-C, (d) Δ LDL-C following correction of hyperthyroidism. These markers thus serve as good predictors for serum adiponectin changes during the correction of hyperthyroidism in patients with Graves’ disease.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
(continued).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Representative 18 F-FDG PET images illustrating tracer uptake and standardized uptake values (SUV) within the circumscribed regions of interest (ROI) correlating to supraclavicular brown adipose tissue (sBAT) depots. There is higher tracer uptake and SUV in a (a) BAT-positive hyperthyroid patient and a correspondingly lower uptake and SUV within the same ROI in a (b) BAT-negative hyperthyroid patient.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Differences in adiponectin levels in hyperthyroid and euthyroid states in both BAT-positive and BAT-negative groups.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Changes in mean HOMA-IR scores between hyperthyroid and euthyroid states of the overall sample, BAT-positive and BAT-negative subjects.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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