An Innovative Multidisciplinary Approach to Thyroid Research: Modern Problems and Solutions

A 15-year, innovative, multidisciplinary experimental and theoretical study was conducted to investigate the peculiarities of thyroid functioning at the systemic-somatic, tissue-organ, and organelle-cell levels of the structural and functional hierarchy, focusing on the correction of hypo- and hyperthyroidism with organic and inorganic iodine. The object of the study was the thyroid glands, liver, adrenal glands, and body weight of male albino rats. Basic biomedical, histological, histochemical, and electron microscopic methods were used. On the systemiс-somatic level, Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed that the thyroid gland, adrenal glands, and liver constitute an integral “functional module”; regression analysis proved that changes in the weight of these organs have a provable impact on changes in body weight. Research at the tissue-organ level has improved and expanded the existing data on biochemical and histochemical features of thyroid hormone production. The presented work highlights the results of the research on follicular cells on the organelle-cell level. The use of the principles of cluster analysis and fuzzy logic, the principle of phase interval, mathematical statistics, and Pearson’s correlation analysis as a package of specially selected mathematical methods formed the basis of the author’s methods – semi-quantitative analysis of electronograms and determination of hormonopoietic cells’ special capabilities profiles. The correlation portraits of connections between organelles, implementing the synthetic, secretory, transport, and energy activities of follicular cells, were created with their help. These portraits served to research the peculiarities of cell components’ interactions, making it possible to expand the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms regulating thyroid hormone production. The features of the thyroid gland functioning while taking organic and inorganic iodine formed the basis of recommendations for the prevention and correction of iodine deficiency states with iodine of different chemical natures.