Effects of Hormones on Metabolic Rate M. J. F.

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ABSTRACT When a subject that has had changes made to its physiological control centers that manage its metabolic rates you would observe changes in the amount of oxygen used. When three rats are observed, one that is normal with no physical alterations, one that has had its thyroid removed, and a third without a pituitary gland you would see that each would use a different amount of oxygen when stimulated with metabolic increasing hormones.

INTRODUCTION Metabolic rate or a living organisms metabolism is a general term used to describe the biochemical reactions that occur over time in the organisms cells. An organism, such as a rat, has a metabolism that is kept in balance by the thyroid. The thyroid is stimulated by the release of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) from the anterior pituitary gland. When THS is released, the thyroid then releases thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). These two hormones have the primary function to control the bodys metabolism and cellular oxidation. When there is an insufficient amount of these hormones the subject might show mental and physical lethargy, too much leads to higher levels of activity or and increased metabolic rate. The rats that were used in this experiment that had some type of alteration performed on them surgically should show some type of change in metabolic rate through the amount of oxygen consumed in one minute. The rat that had the thyroidectomy preformed on it would have plenty of TSH released by the pituitary gland but would not have the thyroid gland present to release T4 or T3 into the body change it metabolic rate. The other rat that underwent the hypophysectomy would have the thyroid gland present and would be able to release the appropriate hormones into the

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body, but there would not be a pituitary gland present to release the TSH that would stimulate the hormone release.

MATERIALS A chamber that is able to accommodate an average size rat with a scale to measure the weight. Soda lime is placed on the bottom of the chamber to absorb carbon dioxide produced by the rat. The chamber is connected to two connectors to attach tubing and clamps, one to allow fresh air into the system and another connected to an respirometer-manometer apparatus. A respirometer-manometer apparatus consists of a U-shaped tube, a syringe, and connecting tubing. Three rats are used for experimental purposes. One rat is used for control subject. This rat has had no surgical edocrine modifications. A second rat has undergone a thyroidectomy, the surgical removal of its thyroid. The third rat has been hypophysectomized, the pituitary gland removed. Appropriate doses of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxine are required for testing purposes

METHODS Three rats were used to measure the metabolic rates. One rat, our control was a normal white rat with no surgical modifications. The second rat, referred to as Tx, had its thyroid removed. The third rat under went a surgical procedure to have its pituitary removed, it will be referred to as, Hypox. The first experiment was to determine the baseline metabolic rates of the three rats. The normal rat was placed in a chamber that could be closed off to outside air and was connected to a U-shaped tube containing a measurable liquid, this is also known as a respirometer-manometer

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apparatus. Within this setup was a scale to measure the rats weight and also soda lime to absorb any carbon dioxide released by our subjects. Once the rat was placed into the chamber, its weight was measured and recorded. The chamber was then closed to any outside air. The rat remained in the chamber for one minute thus displacing the fluid in the respirometer-manometer apparatus. After the one minute period the chamber was once again open to outside air and the subject was again able to breathe fresh air once more. The second part of experiment one was to determine the amount of oxygen consumed by our normal rat. By examining the U-shaped tube attached to the respirometer-manometer apparatus there will be a difference in levels between the right and left tubes. By using the attached syringe we injected air into the system to level the two different liquid levels. The amount of air injected was then recorded as milliliter (mL) of oxygen used per minute. Next the amount of oxygen consumed per hour was calculate by (mL O2 consumed / 1 minute) x (60 minutes / 1 hour) = mL O2 / hr. The final calculation was to determine the metabolic rate. This can be calculated by (mL O2 / hr) / (weight in kg). All the data was recorded so it could be compare it to the other data collected. This procedure was repeated two additional times to determine the baseline metabolic weight of the thyroidectomized rat and the hypophysectomized rat. The same procedure was followed to test the three rats after each was injected with a dose of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxine. The data was collected for each rat and the normal rat was used as the metabolic baseline for each study.

RESULTS

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When the baseline for each rat was measured, there was a definite difference between the the normal rat and the ones that have undergone surgical procedures. The normal rat used approximately 250 mL of O2 / hr more than the other rats tested (Table 1). When each rat was exposed to thyroxine, all showed a significant amount of increase of O2 / hr.The range was a mere 200 mL for the normal rat and almost 400 mL for the rat that was missing its pituitary gland (Table 2). Then when the rats were each given TSH, the thyroidectomized rat had no change to it metabolic rate, while the normal rat showed an increase of 150 ml and the hypophysectomized rat almost 400 mL of O2 / hr (Table 3). . DISCUSSION The results of this experiment demonstrated what could be expected. When a subject is exposed to thyroxine, an increase in metabolic rate should be observable in all subjects since this hormone is used at the cellular level. However, when TSH is given, one would expect that the normal rat and the rat missing the pituitary gland would both have a positive response. While the rat without the thyroid would remain unaffected because it does not have a thyroid to respond to this hormone.

REFERENCES

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Marieb, E. N. and Mitchell, S. J., (2009). Endocrine System Physiology (439-444). Human Anatomy & Physiology Laboratory Manual. San Francisco: Pearson Custom Printing.

FIGURES Table 1 Baseline Weight (grams) mL O2 in 1 minute (mL) mL O2 in 1 hour (mL) Metabolic rate (mL O2/kg/hr) Table 2 With thyroxine Weight (grams) mL O2 in 1 minute (mL) mL O2 in 1 hour (mL) Metabolic rate (mL O2/kg/hr) Normal Rat 250.0 8.0 480 1920 Thyroidectomized Rat 245.9 7.6 456 1854.4 Hypophysectomized Rat 245.5 7.4 444 1808.6 Normal Rat 249.4 7.2 432 1732.2 Thyroidectomized Rat 245.2 6.1 366 1492.7 Hypophysectomized Rat 244.8 6.0 360 1471.2

Table 3 With TSH Weight (grams) mL O2 in 1 minute (mL) mL O2 in 1 hour (mL) Metabolic rate (mL O2/kg/hr) Normal Rat 250.3 7.9 474 1893.7 Thyroidectomized Rat 244.8 6.0 360 1470.6 Hypophysectomized Rat 244.6 7.6 456 1864.3

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