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Development of a Novel Thyroid Function Fluctuated Animal Model for Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy

BACKGROUND: The establishment of a suitable and stable animal model is critical for research on thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO). In clinical practice, we found that patients treated with I-131 often exhibit TAO; therefore, we aimed to establish a novel thyroid function fluctuated animal mode...

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Autores principales: Tu, Yunhai, Wang, Yilong, Ding, Luna, Zhang, Jiao, Wu, Wencan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4752469/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26872324
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148595
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author Tu, Yunhai
Wang, Yilong
Ding, Luna
Zhang, Jiao
Wu, Wencan
author_facet Tu, Yunhai
Wang, Yilong
Ding, Luna
Zhang, Jiao
Wu, Wencan
author_sort Tu, Yunhai
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The establishment of a suitable and stable animal model is critical for research on thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO). In clinical practice, we found that patients treated with I-131 often exhibit TAO; therefore, we aimed to establish a novel thyroid function fluctuated animal model of TAO by simulating the clinical treatment process. METHODS: We treated SD rats with I-131 to damage the thyroid and then used sodium levothyroxine (L-T4) to supplement the thyroid hormone (TH) levels every seven days, leading to a fluctuating level of thyroid hormones that simulated the status of clinical TAO patients. Rats administered normal saline were considered as a control. The weight, intraocular pressure, and serum T3, T4, TSH and TRAb levels of the rats were measured, and the pathological changes were analyzed by H&E staining and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). RESULTS: The experimental rats (TAO group) exhibited significantly reduced weight and elevated intraocular pressure compared with the control rats. Meanwhile, the serum levels of T3 and T4 were up-regulated in the TAO group, but the TSH level decreased during the 10-week study. Moreover, increased numbers of blood vessels and inflammatory cell infiltrations were observed in the orbital tissues of the TAO rats, while no abnormal changes occurred in the control rats. The orbital myofibrils in the TAO rats appeared fractured and dissolved, with twisted structures. Mitochondrial swelling and vacuoles within the endoplasmic reticulum, swelling nerve fibers, shedding nerve myelin, and macrophages were found in the TAO group. CONCLUSION: Rats treated with I-131 and sodium levothyroxine exhibited characteristics similar to those of TAO patients in the clinic, providing an effective and simple method for the establishment of a stable animal model for research on the pathogenesis and treatment of TAO.
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spelling pubmed-47524692016-02-26 Development of a Novel Thyroid Function Fluctuated Animal Model for Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy Tu, Yunhai Wang, Yilong Ding, Luna Zhang, Jiao Wu, Wencan PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: The establishment of a suitable and stable animal model is critical for research on thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO). In clinical practice, we found that patients treated with I-131 often exhibit TAO; therefore, we aimed to establish a novel thyroid function fluctuated animal model of TAO by simulating the clinical treatment process. METHODS: We treated SD rats with I-131 to damage the thyroid and then used sodium levothyroxine (L-T4) to supplement the thyroid hormone (TH) levels every seven days, leading to a fluctuating level of thyroid hormones that simulated the status of clinical TAO patients. Rats administered normal saline were considered as a control. The weight, intraocular pressure, and serum T3, T4, TSH and TRAb levels of the rats were measured, and the pathological changes were analyzed by H&E staining and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). RESULTS: The experimental rats (TAO group) exhibited significantly reduced weight and elevated intraocular pressure compared with the control rats. Meanwhile, the serum levels of T3 and T4 were up-regulated in the TAO group, but the TSH level decreased during the 10-week study. Moreover, increased numbers of blood vessels and inflammatory cell infiltrations were observed in the orbital tissues of the TAO rats, while no abnormal changes occurred in the control rats. The orbital myofibrils in the TAO rats appeared fractured and dissolved, with twisted structures. Mitochondrial swelling and vacuoles within the endoplasmic reticulum, swelling nerve fibers, shedding nerve myelin, and macrophages were found in the TAO group. CONCLUSION: Rats treated with I-131 and sodium levothyroxine exhibited characteristics similar to those of TAO patients in the clinic, providing an effective and simple method for the establishment of a stable animal model for research on the pathogenesis and treatment of TAO. Public Library of Science 2016-02-12 /pmc/articles/PMC4752469/ /pubmed/26872324 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148595 Text en © 2016 Tu et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Tu, Yunhai
Wang, Yilong
Ding, Luna
Zhang, Jiao
Wu, Wencan
Development of a Novel Thyroid Function Fluctuated Animal Model for Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy
title Development of a Novel Thyroid Function Fluctuated Animal Model for Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy
title_full Development of a Novel Thyroid Function Fluctuated Animal Model for Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy
title_fullStr Development of a Novel Thyroid Function Fluctuated Animal Model for Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy
title_full_unstemmed Development of a Novel Thyroid Function Fluctuated Animal Model for Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy
title_short Development of a Novel Thyroid Function Fluctuated Animal Model for Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy
title_sort development of a novel thyroid function fluctuated animal model for thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4752469/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26872324
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148595
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