Effect of suckling and adrenergic stimulation on peripheral deiodination in lactating rats: differential expression of type 1 deiodinase mRNA forms

Previous works led us to propose that peripheral iodothyronine deiodination is mainly regulated by the reciprocal interaction between the thyroid and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). In this study, we analyzed the role suckling exerts, through SNS activation, upon deiodination of thyronines in liver, heart, brown adipose tissue and mammary gland during lactation. Our results showed that resuckling causes a concurrent stimulatory response on deiodinase type 1 (D1) in heart and mammary gland, but not in liver and brown adipose tissue. The stimulatory response was mimicked by norepinephrine and by the beta -adrenergic agonist isoproterenol, through the overexpression of the large form of D1 mRNA. These results suggested that, during lactation, peripheral thyronine deiodination is co-ordinated by the SNS, and suckling is a major modulatory influence.