Longevity, demographic characteristics, and socio- economic status are linked to triiodothyronine levels in the general population

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lawton, Ralph I.; Sabatini, Bernardo L.; Hochbaum, Daniel R.
• 署名单位: Harvard University; Harvard Medical School; Harvard University; Harvard Medical School; Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-9585
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2308652121
• 发表日期: 2024-01-09
• 关键词: thyroid-stimulating hormone; serum tsh; national-health; free t4; mortality; association; dysfunction; disease; t-4; hypothyroidism

摘要

The hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis is fundamental to human biology, exerting central control over energy expenditure and body temperature. However, the consequences of normal physiologic HPT-axis variation in populations without diagnosed thyroid disease are poorly understood. Using nationally representative data from the 2007 to 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we explore relationships with demographic characteristics, longevity, and socio- economic factors. We find much larger variation across age in free T3 than other HPT-axis hormones. T3 and T4 have opposite relationships to mortality: free T3 is inversely related and free T4 is positively related to the likelihood of death. Free T3 and household income are negatively related, particularly at lower incomes. Finally, free T3 among older adults is associated with labor both in terms of unemployment and hours worked. Physiologic TSH/T4 explain only 1.7% of T3 variation, and neither are appreciably correlated to socio- economic outcomes. Taken together, our data suggest an unappreciated complexity of the HPT-axis signaling cascade broadly such that TSH and T4 may not be accurate surrogates of free T3. Furthermore, we find that subclinical variation in the HPT-axis effector hormone T3 is an important and overlooked factor linking socio- economic forces, human biology, and aging.