Endogenous neuropeptide Y regulates thyroid blood flow.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is present in thyroid sympathetic nerve fibers. To assess the involvement of endogenous NPY in the regulation of thyroid function, a NPY antiserum was produced in a rabbit, characterized, and used for immunization of normal and hyperthyroid rats. Plasma thyroxine, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroidal, and other organ blood flows (BF) were measured in anesthetized (ketamine and pentobarbital sodium) male Sprague-Dawley rats at 1 h after intravenous administration of 1 ml of the antiserum, normal rabbit serum, or saline. Immunization against NPY had no effect on the plasma levels of thyroxine, TSH, or arterial blood pressure, but it significantly increased thyroidal BF in normal rats. In the hyperthyroid rats (treated with 5 micrograms.100 g body wt-.day-1 thyroxine for 6 days), the NPY antiserum reversed the hyperthyroidism-induced decrease in thyroid BF and significantly increased duodenal and testicular BF values, but it did not alter BF values in four other organs. These results indicate that endogenous NPY regulates thyroid BF in normal rats. They also provide an example of NPY involvement in the pathophysiological adjustment of some organs to hyperthyroidism.