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Structural Changes in the Angiofollicular Units between Active and Hypofunctioning Follicles Align with Differences in the Epithelial Expression of Newly Discovered Proteins Involved in Iodine Transport and Organification

Histology Unit (A.-C.G., M.-C.M., I.M.C., J.-F.D.) and Endocrinology Unit (C.D.), Université Catholique de Louvain, Medical School, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium; Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire (S.C., F.M.) Université Libre de Bruxelles, B-1070 Brussels, Belgium; and Academic Medical Center (J.J.M.D.), University of Amsterdam, 1100 DE Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: J.-F. Denef, Histology Unit, Université Catholique de Louvain, Medical School, Avenue Emmanuel Mounier, 52, UCL 5229, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium. E-mail: . denef{at}isto.ucl.ac.be

Abstract

In animals, as well as in humans, the thyroid gland is made of active follicles, with cuboidal cells and hypofunctioning follicles, with flattened cells. In this study, the functional status of human follicles was dissected out, based on immunohistochemical detection of TSH receptor, Na⁺/I^- symporter, pendrin, thyroperoxidase (TPO), thyroid oxidases (ThOXs), and T₄-containing iodinated Tg (Tg-I). To ascertain that angiofollicular units exist in the human, we studied the microvascular bed of each follicle, in correlation with detection of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), of nitric oxide synthase III, and of endothelin in normal and goitrous thyroids. In hypofunctioning follicles, pendrin, TPO, and ThOXs were not detected, and there was no Tg-I in the colloid. At the opposite, in active follicles, pendrin, TPO, and ThOXs were detected in thyrocytes, and Tg-I was present in the colloid. In normal and goitrous thyroids, the capillary networks surrounding active follicles were larger than those surrounding hypofunctioning follicles. Immunoreactivity for nitric oxide synthase III and endothelin was solely detected in active follicles. Only a few follicles in normal thyroids were immunostained for VEGF, regardless of their functional status. In multinodular goiters, VEGF was detected in contact with the extracellular matrix at the basal pole of the cells. In conclusion, the present study endorses the likelihood of angiofollicular units in the human thyroids. Vascular changes are related to the functional status of thyrocytes.

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