Altered plasma catecholamines and numbers of α- and β-adrenergic receptors in platelets and leucocytes in hyperthyroid patients normalized under antithyroid treatment

Abstract

Abstract. We measured plasma catecholamines, α- and β-adrenoreceptor numbers and the accumulation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in the unstimulated state and in response to 10 μmol/l (-) isoproterenol in blood cells from 29 euthyroid controls and from 18 patients with spontaneous hyperthyroidism. In the thyrotoxic patients plasma norepinephrine (1.14 ± 0.5 nmol/l) and epinephrine (0.3 ±0.14 nmol/l) were significantly decreased compared with plasma norepinephrine (1.87 ± 0.7 nmol) and epinephrine (0.41 ± 0.19 nmol/l) in the controls (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively) and the values obtained in subjects rendered euthyroid by antithyroid treatment (P < 0.001, respectively). α-adrenoceptor density in platelet membranes obtained from patients in the hyperthyroid state (114 ± 38 sites per cell) was significantly decreased when compared with controls (159 ± 48 sites per cell, P < 0.01) and the values from patients under effective antithyroid treatment (136 ± 35 sites per cell, P < 0.01). On the contrary, a significant increase in β-adrenoceptor density in mononuclear leucocyte (MNL) membranes was found in hyperthyroid patients (1751 ± 237 sites/cell) when compared with controls (1510 ± 351 sites/cell, P < 0.05) and the same patients following antithyroid treatment (1455 ± 260 sites/cell, P < 0.001). The equilibrium dissociation constants (KD) did not change in hyperthyroidism. Basal cAMP concentrations in MNL were higher in untreated thyrotoxicosis (45 ± 18 pmol/106 cells/10 min) than in patients in the euthyroid state (35 ± 9 pmol/106 cells/10 min, P < 0.05). Our data support the hypothesis that the balance of α- and β-adrenoceptors depends on the thyroid state. However, before the reputed catecholamine supersensitivity in hyperthyroid man can be accepted, the relationship between alterations in adrenoceptors and the biological responsiveness to catecholamines has to be demonstrated in different human tissues.