The effect of endogenous somatostatin upon human thyrotrophin (TSH) secretion

Two studies were performed to determine the importance of endogenous somatostatin (SS) in regulating human TSH secretion. In the first, healthy adult males were studied in random order on two occasions a week apart. They were infused with either saline to maintain euglycaemia, or 10% dextrose to raise blood glucose concentration by at least 3 mmol/L within 10 minutes, and cause hypothalamic SS release. Fifteen minutes after the infusions were commenced, 200 micrograms of TRH was injected intravenously and TSH release was followed for the next 75 minutes. In the second study, persons with elevations of TSH to between 3 and 12 mU/L were also infused with either saline or 10% dextrose. Infusions were continued for 1 hour and the TSH secreted was measured over this time period. There was no significant difference between the euglycaemic or hyperglycaemic studies in TRH-induced TSH secretion, either as areas under the curve, or as mean values at individual times. Mean TSH peaks were seen in both groups at 25 minutes post-TRH. Mean peak values were 8.11 +/- 0.97 mU/L (mean +/- SEM) in the euglycaemic group, and 7.94 +/- 1.18 mU/L in the hyperglycaemic group. Mean area under the curve was 396.3 +/- 53.2 mU/L/75 mins (SEM) for the euglycaemic study and 385.1 +/- 59.5 mU/L/75 mins (SEM) for the hyperglycaemic group. In the infusion study in the persons with mild hypothyroidism, there was no difference in TSH concentration between the two infusion regimes. These results show that in acute studies, hyperglycaemia does not inhibit human TSH release, despite the likelihood of hypothalamic-pituitary SS concentration being increased.