A new paper published in Frontiers in Physiology reports on a BBSRC-funded study in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen, and includes image analysis carried out by Rhian Young, a Part II PDN project student during the 2020-21 lockdown period.
The paper, co-written by lead author Young and PDN colleagues, shows that thyroid hormones are important for the normal maturation of gastrointestinal structure and function in the fetus near term. This is a critical period of development as, at birth, the supply of nutrients to the offspring switches from the placenta to the gastrointestinal tract which needs to be ready for digestion and absorption.
In a sheep model of thyroid hormone deficiency before birth, we observed impaired growth of the gastrointestinal mucosa and villi-crypt architecture, altered intestinal enzyme activities and low plasma gastrin concentration. These findings help to understand the basis of gastrointestinal pathologies seen in infants with congenital hypothyroidism and those born preterm with low thyroid hormone concentrations.
Read the paper in full on the Frontiers in Physiology website