Immunohistochemical study of fibronectin and thyroglobulin in the thyroid gland of female rats after exposure to radioactive iodine

The aim of this work was to study the effect of a dose of 150 μCi 131 I on the barrier properties of the thyroid epithelium in pregnant female rats. Thirty‐five female Wistar rats were divided into a control and four experimental groups (each distinguished by the time of 131 I injection: group I—no less then 12 days before mating; groups II, III, and IV—on 5th, 10th, and 16th days of gestation, respectively). The thyroid glands were fixed in Bouin's fluid, embedded in paraffin, and stained immunohistochemically for thyroglobulin and fibronectin. In group IV the appearance of follicles with fibronectin‐positive colloid demonstrates the penetration of blood plasma into the follicular lumen. There are more fibronectin positive follicles in group III. Regardless of the nature of the follicles' contents, numerous thyrocytes with an intensive fibronectin positive reaction begin to appear in the follicles. In group II the number of fibronectin positive follicles and thyrocytes is clearly reduced, and in group I only a few remain. In group IV there is a noticeable reduction in the quantity of colloid inside the follicles and often an absence of any thyroglobulin positive reaction. There are thyrocytes in which thyroglobulin positive granules localized in the basal zone. There is thyroglobulin positive staining in the stroma and blood vessels. In group II thyroglobulin is no longer found in the stroma. Small doses of 131 I provoke a serious breakdown in the thyroid epithelium's barrier properties, although these changes are of a transient nature. The central zone of the thyroid gland reacts more actively and dynamically to exposure to radioactive iodine than the peripheral zone. Anat. Rec. 252:600–607, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.