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¹ Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos (CEFYBO), CONICET, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Paraguay 2155, piso 15, Primera Cátedra de Farmacología, 1121 Buenos Aires, Argentina
² Laboratorio de Radioisótopos, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Junin 956, 1113 Buenos Aires, Argentina
³ Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas Alfredo Lanari, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, AV. Combatients de Malvinas 3105, 1427 Buenos Aires, Argentina

(Requests for offprints should be addressed to G A Cremaschi at CONICET, Facultad de Medicina; Email: grace{at}ffyb.uba.ar)

Thyroid hormones play critical roles in differentiation, growth and metabolism, but their participation in immune system regulation has not been completely elucidated. Modulation of in vivo thyroid status was used to carry out an integrative analysis of the role of the hypothalamus–pituitary–thyroid (HPT) axis in T and B lymphocyte activity. The participation of the protein kinase C (PKC) signaling pathway and the release of some cytokines upon antigenic stimulation were analyzed. Lymphocytes from hyperthyroid mice displayed higher T-and B-cell mitogen-induced proliferation, and those from hypothyroid mice displayed lower T- and B-cell mitogen-induced proliferation, compared with euthyroid animals. Reversion of hypothyroid state by triiodothyronine (T3) administration recovered the proliferative responses. No differences were found in lymphoid subset balance. Both total PKC content and mitogen-induced PKC translocation were higher in T and B cells from hyperthyroid mice, and lower in cells from hypothyroid mice, compared with controls. Levels of thyroid-stimulating (TSH) and TSH-releasing (TRH) hormones were not directly related to lymphocyte proliferative responses. After immunization with sheep red blood cells (SRBCs) and re-stimulation, in vitro spleen cells from hyper- or hypothyroid mice showed, respectively, increased or decreased production of interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon (IFN)- cytokines. Additionally, an increase in IL-6 and IFN- levels was found in hyperthyroid cells after in vivo injection and in vitro re-stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

Our results show for the first time a thyroid hormone-mediated regulation of PKC content and of cytokine production in lymphocytes; this regulation could be involved in the altered responsiveness to mitogen-induced proliferation of T and B cells. The results also confirm the important role that these hormones play in regulating lymphocyte reactivity.

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