PURPOSE Subjects with obesity may exhibit an increase in serum TSH concentrations. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this association, including the presence of a compensatory mechanism to counterbalance an accelerated turnover of thyroid hormones in subjects with obesity. This study aimed at evaluating whether the thyroids of subjects with obesity differs from those of normal-weight individuals regarding histology and gene expression profiling. METHODS Ninety-eight patients were selected among those scheduled for thyroidectomy. At histology, thyroid tissue samples were investigated for the presence of adipocytes and/or lymphocyte infiltration. In a subset of patients, the expression at mRNA level of several genes involved in metabolic pathways and immune cell-related mechanisms was quantified by NanoString Technology. RESULTS The presence of adipose cells was documented in thyroid specimens from 40% normal weight, 52.9% overweight and 73.5% patients with obesity. The number of infiltrating adipocytes was greater in specimens of patients with overweight or obesity compared to normal weight. The lymphocytes common antigen (CD45) and mast cell (MC) scores, and the number of CD3+ and CD8+ lymphocytes were higher in patients with overweight and obesity than in normal-weight subjects. Several genes involved in metabolic pathways were differently expressed in patients with overweight or obesity compared to normal weight, with upregulation of Leptin receptor and downregulation of Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 5. CONCLUSIONS Increased BMI is associated with adipocyte and lymphocyte infiltration of the thyroid, not related to an autoimmune process, which might affect thyroid function in subjects with obesity. A differential gene expression profiling of metabolic and immune pathways in thyroid tissues of patients with obesity was also observed.

中文翻译：

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肥胖受试者甲状腺组织的组织学模式和基因表达谱。

目的 肥胖受试者可能表现出血清 TSH 浓度升高。已经提出了几种机制来解释这种关联，包括存在一种补偿机制来抵消肥胖受试者中甲状腺激素的加速更新。本研究旨在评估肥胖受试者的甲状腺在组织学和基因表达谱方面是否与正常体重个体的甲状腺不同。方法 98 名患者从预定进行甲状腺切除术的患者中选出。在组织学上，研究甲状腺组织样本中是否存在脂肪细胞和/或淋巴细胞浸润。在一部分患者中，参与代谢途径和免疫细胞相关机制的几个基因在 mRNA 水平上的表达通过 NanoString 技术进行了量化。结果 40% 正常体重、52.9% 超重和 73.5% 肥胖患者的甲状腺标本中记录了脂肪细胞的存在。与正常体重相比，超重或肥胖患者样本中浸润的脂肪细胞数量更多。超重和肥胖患者的淋巴细胞共同抗原（CD45）和肥大细胞（MC）评分以及CD3+和CD8+淋巴细胞的数量均高于正常体重的患者。与正常体重相比，超重或肥胖患者中涉及代谢途径的几个基因表达不同，瘦素受体上调，脂肪酸结合蛋白 5 下调。结论 BMI 增加与甲状腺的脂肪细胞和淋巴细胞浸润有关，而不是与自身免疫过程有关，这可能会影响肥胖受试者的甲状腺功能。还观察到肥胖患者甲状腺组织中代谢和免疫途径的差异基因表达谱。