TSH and Thyrotropic Agonists: Key Actors in Thyroid Homeostasis

Figure 4

Characteristic curves of pituitary and thyroid. The area shaded in green denotes univariate reference ranges for TSH and FT4. The dashed red line denotes the pituitary’s response in form of TSH incretion to varying FT4 levels; the continuous blue line represents the thyroid’s response to TSH. Note that for the response curve of the thyroid—contrary to convention—the ordinate (TSH) is the independent axis, while the dependent axis is the abscissa (FT4). This uncommon notation facilitates superposition of both characteristic curves. Marked is a normal equilibrium point (also referred to as setpoint) defined by the intersection of both 50% percentiles. Response curves were calculated from percentiles for secretory capacities of pituitary (𝐺_𝐻) and thyroid (𝐺_𝑇) using the mathematical model displayed in Figure 2. Structure parameters were derived from a subgroup of subjects included in the NOMOTHETICOS trial [153].