Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026
White and Brown Adipose Grafts: An Approach to Correct Reproductive, Metabolic, and Renal Deficits in Black and Tan Brachyury (BTBR) Obese Mice
Published on: September 9, 2025
Spontaneous diurnal thyrotropin secretion is enhanced in proportion to circulating leptin in obese premenopausal
Petra Kok1, Ferdinand Roelfsema, Marijke Frölich
1Leiden University Medical Center, Department of General Internal Medicine (C4-83), P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
Context:
Recent evidence implicates leptin as an important modulator of thyroid axis activity.
Objective:
The objective of this study was to study spontaneous 24-h TSH secretion and 24-h circulating leptin concentrations in obese and lean women.
Design:
This was a prospective parallel study (2004).
Setting:
This study was conducted at the Clinical Research Center (Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands).
Participants:
Twelve healthy obese premenopausal women (body mass index, 33.2 +/- 0.9 kg/m2) and 11 lean controls (body mass index, 21.4 +/- 0.5 kg/m2) were studied in the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle.
Intervention(S):
There were no interventions in this study.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Spontaneous 24-h TSH concentrations (10-min time intervals) and secretion were calculated using waveform-independent deconvolution technique (pulse). Twenty-four-hour circulating leptin concentrations (20-min time intervals) were measured.
Results:
Mean TSH concentration (obese, 1.9 +/- 0.2 vs. lean, 1.1 +/- 0.1 mU/liter; P = 0.009) and secretion rate (obese, 43.4 +/- 5.5 vs. lean, 26.1 +/- 2.2 mU/liter distribution volume.24 h; P = 0.011) were substantially enhanced in obesity, whereas the fasting free T4 (fT4) concentrations were similar (fT4 in obese, 15.4 +/- 1.5 vs. in lean, 16.4 +/- 1.5 pmol/liter; P = 0.147). TSH secretion was positively related to 24-h leptin concentrations (r2= 0.31; P = 0.007).
Conclusions:
TSH release is enhanced in the face of normal plasma fT4 concentrations in obese premenopausal women, and hyperleptinemia may well be involved in this neuroendocrine alteration.
Related Concept Videos
01:20Synthesis and Regulation of Thyroid Hormones
Upon reaching the thyroid gland, TSH stimulates the follicular cells' active uptake of iodide ions from the blood. The ions diffuse to the apical surface of the cells and are oxidized to iodine. The iodine is then...
01:25Hyperthyroidism I: Introduction
01:27Hyperthyroidism II: Pathophysiology
01:27Major Hormones and Their Functions
Oxytocin, produced in the hypothalamus and released by the pituitary gland, plays a role in social bonding, childbirth, and lactation.
01:23Hypothyroidism II: Pathophysiology
01:18Functions of Thyroid Hormones
TH is indispensable for the normal development and maturation of the skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems during fetal and childhood growth. It facilitates bone mineral turnover and regulates protein synthesis in developing tissues, contributing significantly to overall growth and...