Adaptations of the Autonomous Nervous System Controlling Heart Rate Are Impaired by a Mutant Thyroid Hormone Receptor-α1
Author(s) -
Jens Mittag,
Benjamin Davis,
Milica Vujović,
Anders Arner,
Björn Vennström
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
endocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.674
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1945-7170
pISSN - 0013-7227
DOI - 10.1210/en.2009-1201
Subject(s) - endocrinology , medicine , autonomic nervous system , heart rate , hormone , sympathetic nervous system , thyroid , biology , bradycardia , receptor , blood pressure
Thyroid hormone has profound direct effects on cardiac function, but the hormonal interactions with the autonomic control of heart rate are unclear. Because thyroid hormone receptor (TR)-α1 has been implicated in the autonomic control of brown adipose energy metabolism, it might also play an important role in the central autonomic control of heart rate. Thus, we aimed to analyze the role of TRα1 signaling in the autonomic control of heart rate using an implantable radio telemetry system. We identified that mice expressing the mutant TRα1R384C (TRα1+m mice) displayed a mild bradycardia, which becomes more pronounced during night activity or on stress and is accompanied by a reduced expression of nucleotide-gated potassium channel 2 mRNA in the heart. Pharmacological blockage with scopolamine and the β-adrenergic receptor antagonist timolol revealed that the autonomic control of cardiac activity was similar to that in wild-type mice at room temperature. However, at thermoneutrality, in which the regulation of heart rate switches from sympathetic to parasympathetic in wild-type mice, TRα1+m mice maintained sympathetic stimulation and failed to activate parasympathetic signaling. Our findings demonstrate a novel role for TRα1 in the adaptation of cardiac activity by the autonomic nervous system and suggest that human patients with a similar mutation in TRα1 might exhibit a deficit in cardiac adaptation to stress or physical activity and an increased sensitivity to β-blockers.
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