CHANGES IN THYROID MORPHOLOGY AND FUNCTION PRODUCED BY THE SHIFT IN DEUTERIUM/PROTIUM BALANCE IN THE ORGANISM

The ability to reduce the isotopic composition of hydrogen in the internal environment of the body to influence the physiology of the organs of the endocrine system is a new and practically unexplored direction in science. The aim of the work was to study the morphological and functional changes in the thyroid gland of male rats after a two-week decrease in the content of deuterium in the internal environment of the body. The experiment was carried out on male Wistar rats fed deuterium-reduced water instead of drinking water for 2 weeks. The main effect exerted by water with a reduced content of deuterium on the body is a gradual decrease in the content of deuterium in liquid media and tissues due to isotope exchange reactions. Two weeks after the start of the experiment, the concentrations of thyroid hormones were determined: total and free thyroxine, total and free triiodothyronine, and thyroid-stimulating hormone. Histological and morphometric examination of thyroid preparations was carried out. Morphological and functional changes in the thyroid gland of male rats after a two-week reduction of the deuterium content in the internal environment of the body was studied. A prolonged decrease in deuterium influx led to structural changes in the thyroid gland and its secretory activity and were associated with hypothalamic-pituitary hypothyroidism due to a decrease in the synthesis of thyroid-stimulating hormone.