Associations of thyroid hormone serum levels with in-vivo Alzheimer’s disease pathologies

BACKGROUND: The present study investigated the relationships between thyroid hormone serum levels or thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and two Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-specific biomarkers, cerebral amyloid beta (Aβ) burden and glucose metabolism, in AD-signature brain regions in cognitively normal (CN) middle-aged and older individuals. METHODS: This study assessed 148 CN individuals who received comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological assessments that included (11)C-Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB)-positron emission tomography (PET) scans, (18)F-deoxyglucose (FDG)-PET scans, and the quantification of serum triiodothyronine (T3), free T3, free thyroxine (fT4), and TSH levels. RESULTS: All participants were clinically euthyroid. Independent negative associations were found between serum fT4 levels and global cerebral Aβ deposition after controlling for the effects of age, gender, and the apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOEε4) genotype. Although serum TSH levels were not associated with global cerebral Aβ deposition, they had a significant negative association with glucose metabolism in the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex after controlling for age, gender, and the APOEε4 genotype. No other thyroid hormones exhibited relationships with either brain Aβ burden or glucose metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: Even in a clinical euthyroid state, low serum fT4 and high serum TSH levels appear to be differentially associated with AD-specific brain changes. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13195-017-0291-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.