Thyroid and HPT Axis Flashcards
What is the blood supply of the thyroid?
Superior and Inferior Thyroid Arteries
What is the cell type found in inactive follicles?
Squamous Epithelium
What is the cell type found in active follicles?
Cuboidal Epithelium
What is the follicle?
Epithelial cells surrounding lumen - lumen filled with colloid
What is the function of the C cells (parafollicular cells)?
Produce calcitonin and maintain the follicle
What are the 2 precursors of thyroid hormone?
Thyroglobulin (TG) and Iodide
What is the Wolf-Chaikoff effect?
Increases in iodide intake decrease gland transport and hormone synthesis and vice- versa.
Allows for constant iodine storage even with dietary changes.
How is the Wolf-Chaikoff effect used clinically?
Very high iodide doses are used to rapidly shut down thyroid hormone production in hyperthyroid patients
What are the different thyroid hormones?
T3
T4
rT3
What is T4?
Thyroxine.
Tightly bound to transport proteins in blood Binds to receptor with low affinity
What is T3?
Triiodothyronine.
Primary active form
Binds with high affinity, low capacity to receptor
What is rT3?
Reverse Triiodothyronine.
Inactive
What are the components of the HPT axis?
Hypothalamus - PVN
Pituitary - Thyrotropes
Thyroid
How is the HPT axis regulated?
Negative feedback by T4/T3 in hypothalamus.
Negative feedback in pituitary by intracellular T3
What does the polarization of the thyroid follicle refer to?
Different functions of the apical and basolateral membranes
What is the function of the apical follicle?
Apical surface is exposed to the lumen (colloid) and thyroid hormone synthesis occurs here with the iodination of TG
What is the function of the basolateral follicle?
Basolateral surface is exposed to the blood and is responsible for the uptake of iodine and the release of thyroid hormone