Morphofunctional Analysis of Development of Nonthyroid Disease Syndrome in Experimental Endotoxicosis

Sepsis leads to thyroid impairment and dysfunction in rat model

Sepsis was a systemic response to a local infection. Apoptosis was observed in the experimental sepsis. In this study, cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis was established in rats. We found that sepsis decreased thyroid hormone levels, including triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), free T3 (fT3), and free T4 (fT4). Besides, we detected the increasing expression level of Caspase-3 and increasing ratio of TUNEL positive cells in the thyroid after sepsis. Furthermore, a series of pathological ultrastructural changes were observed in thyroid follicular epithelial cells by CLP-induced sepsis. This study established a sepsis animal model and provided the cellular and molecular basis for decoding the pathological mechanism in thyroid with the occurrence of sepsis.

Ultrastructural characteristics of molecular release of secretory products from thyroid mast cells induced by lipopolysaccharide

Ultrastructural characteristics of molecular release of secretory products from thyroid mast cells during different periods after LPS injection were studied in rats. The main morphological manifestation of this mechanism was progressing hydration of the hyaloplasm around secretory granules and dissolution and release of osmiophilic contents from the granules to the cytoplasm with the formation of a hydropic vacuole at the site of the granule.