The forgotten effects of thyrotropin-releasing hormone: metabolic functions and medical applications

[helvella]

An interesting (and quite long) paper. It certainly is true that you can spend a very long time reading about thyroid and hardly ever see TRH mentioned.

The forgotten effects of thyrotropin-releasing hormone: metabolic functions and medical applications

• Eleonore Fröhlicha, b,

• Richard Wahla, ,

• a Internal Medicine (Dept. of Endocrinology, Metabolism, Nephrology and Clinical Chemistry), University of Tuebingen, Otfried-Muellerstrasse 10, 72076 Tuebingen

• b Center for Medical Research, Medical University Graz, Stiftingtalstr. 24, 8010 Graz, Austria

Received 5 April 2018, Revised 7 June 2018, Accepted 20 June 2018, Available online 22 June 2018

Highlights

• Hypothalamic releasing hormone has endocrine targets and affects cognitive functions.

• TRH stimulation assay is no more widely used in the diagnosis of thyroid disorders.

• TRH analogs are approved for the treatment of spinocerebellar degenerative disease.

• A role of TRH in breast cancer has been proposed.

Abstract

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) causes a variety of thyroidal and non-thyroidal effects, the best known being the feedback regulation of thyroid hormone levels. This was employed in the TRH stimulation test, which is currently little used. The role of TRH as a cancer biomarker is minor, but exaggerated responses to TSH and prolactin levels in breast cancer led to the hypothesis of a potential role for TRH in the pathogenesis of this disease. TRH is a rapidly degraded peptide with multiple targets, limiting its suitability as a biomarker and drug candidate. Although some studies reported efficacy in neural diseases (depression, spinal cord injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, etc.), therapeutic use of TRH is presently restricted to spinocerebellar degenerative disease. Regulation of TRH production in the hypothalamus, patterns of expression of TRH and its receptor in the body, its role in energy metabolism and in prolactin secretion are addressed in this review.

Full paper freely available here:

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

[Clare59]

Good morning. I have attempted to read the article but the majority of it was way above my head to be honest. However am I correct in interpreting what I did understand to be that too much T3 and T4 can be a contributing factor to both breast cancer and uterine cancer? Also, is it good for you to fast ( as in the 5:2 eating plan) or not?

Thank you if you have an answers.

[Rita-D]

Thank you for posting this Helvella. I had a TRH test 3 years ago. There was no TSH response. Only comment was that TSH should not be used to monitor my Hashimoto's Disease. I did have an MRI to rule out a pituitary tumour. Now I know why no action has been taken. This seems really complicated and I don't think endos know what to do with a poor TRH response. My last endo (who has actually prescribed T3 for me as I am heterozygous for DIO2 gene) has simply put in his letter to my GP under the list of issues that I have: Previous TRH stimulation test showed suppressed TSH throughout (? cause). I feel so much better with the addition of T3. Most of my issues have gone, but I am still struggling to lose the 4 stone weight gain from being undiagnosed for over 20 years! I try really hard to be gluten free, but fall off the wagon on a regular basis. I have never eaten much in the way of gluten products so when I was tested for coeliacs disease it came back negative. I will keep trying though.