Thyroid activity of spontaneous hypertensive rats.
Thyroid activity of both male and female spontaneous hypertensive (SH) rats was studied by measurements of uptake and rate of release of 131-I, urinary excretion of 131-I, and thyroxine secretion rate (TSR). In addition, thyroid glands were removed at death and weighed. Radioactivity of the thyroid gland of male rats measured at intervals after administration of 131-I revealed a significantly reduced maximal uptake at 21.5 hr after injection and a reduced rate of release. The mean biological half-life of 131-I for the control group was 37.8 plus or minus 3.1 (SE) hr compared to 54.8 plus or minus 7.2 hr for hypertensives (P less than 0.05). Similar results were observed for females in that biological half-life of 131-I was 32.2 plus or minus 1.2 hr compared with 84.1 plus or minus 4.1 hr for hypertensives (P less than 0.01). Urinary excretion of 131-I by hypertensive rats at 24, 48, and 72hr after injection of 131-I did not differ from control in either experiment. Thyroid weight at autopsy was increased significantly above that of normotensive controls. TSR was measured indirectly in a third group of male spontaneously hypertensive and normotensive rats. TSR of control rats was estimated to be 0.97 mug T4/100 g body wt/day and 1.35 mug T4/100 g body wt/day for SH RATS. The results are consistent with the suggestion that the method for measurement of TSR in hypertensive rats gives an artifactually high value because TSH secretion is elevated.