Expression of functional TSH receptor in white adipose tissues of hyt/hyt mice induces lipolysis in vivo

To determine the relative importance of TSH in white adipose tissue, we compared the adipose phenotypes of two distinct mouse models of hypothyroidism. These models differed in that the normal reciprocal relationship between thyroid hormone and TSH was intact in one and disrupted in the other. One model, thyroidectomized (THYx) mice, had a 100-fold increase in TSH and a normal TSH receptor (TSHR); in contrast, the other model, hyt/hyt mice, had a 120-fold elevation of TSH but a nonfunctional TSHR. Although both THYx and hyt/hyt mice were in a severe hypothyroid state, the epididymal fat (mg)/body wt (g) (F/B) ratio of THYx mice was much smaller than that of hyt/hyt mice (8.2 ± 0.43 vs. 14.4 ± 0.40, respectively, P < 0.001). The fat cell diameter in THYx mice was also smaller than that in hyt/hyt mice (79 ± 2.8 vs. 105 ± 2.2 μm, respectively, P < 0.001), suggesting that TSH induced lipolysis in adipose tissues. When we transferred a functional mouse TSHR gene and a control plasmid into opposite sides of epididymal fat of hyt/hyt mice by plasmid injection combined with electroporation, fat weight of the TSHR side was decreased to 60% of that of the control side. Messenger RNA levels of hormone-sensitive lipase in epididymal fat containing the transferred TSHR gene were twofold higher than those in tissue from the control side. These results indicated that TSH worked as a lipolytic factor in white adipose tissues, especially in mice in a hypothyroid state.