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Updated: Jun 4, 2025

Author Spotlight: In Vivo Assessment of Thyroid Hormone Disruption Using the THAI Mouse Model
Published on: October 6, 2023
Thyroid hormone and the Liver
Lorraine Soares De Oliveira1, Megan J Ritter
1Department of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract:
It is known that thyroid hormone can regulate hepatic metabolic pathways including cholesterol, de novo lipogenesis, fatty acid oxidation, lipophagy, and carbohydrate metabolism. Thyroid hormone action is mediated by the thyroid hormone receptor (THR) isoforms and their coregulators, and THRβ is the main isoform expressed in the liver. Dysregulation of thyroid hormone levels, as seen in hypothyroidism, has been associated with dyslipidemia and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease. Given the beneficial effects of thyroid hormone in liver metabolism and the advances illuminating the use of thyroid hormone analogs such as resmetirom as therapeutic agents in the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease, this review aims to further explore the relationship between TH, the liver, and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease. Herein, we summarize the current clinical therapies and highlight future areas of research.
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