Reduction due to ageing of TSH-stimulated thyroid hormone release in the cream hamster

The in vitro secretion by thyroid lobes from young (2-month-old) and from "aged" (more than 21 months old) male cream hamsters was estimated by measuring the butanol-extractable 125I (BE-125I) released into the medium after 2 and 4 h of incubation in the presence or absence of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). Lobes were fixed at the end of incubation for examination by both light and electron microscopy. Other lobes from both groups were collected for estimation of cyclic AMP contents. BE-125I release by lobes from aged animals after TSH stimulation was significantly lower than that of young animals. Similarly, pseudopods resorbing colloid, the morphological markers of secretion, were much less prominent in the aged group than in the young group. As this observation and the reduced BE-125I release contrast with an equivalent increase of cyclic AMP in both the young and aged groups, it is suggested that the age-dependent defect resulting in reduced hormone secretion is located at a step beyond the generation of cyclic AMP in the cascade of events occurring between binding of TSH to plasma membrane receptors on the target cell and hormone release.