The following is a summary of “Population data evidence of interdependence of the limbs of hormonal feedback loops,” published in the June 2024 issue of Endocrinology by Fitzgerald, et al.
For a study, researchers sought to quantitatively investigate the fundamental models underlying hormonal physiological regulation and homeostasis using population data.
They analyzed balance points of various parameters and their corresponding controlling hormones, focusing on correlations between circulating free thyroxine and thyrotropin, calcium and parathyroid hormone, hemoglobin and erythropoietin, and glucose and insulin levels in the population. Additionally, they empirically estimated the slopes of feedback loops and used computer simulations to model factors influencing these slopes derived from the population data. They then compared these simulations with empirically derived slopes to understand the impact of changes in the population distribution of feedback loop limbs on correlations.
The simulations demonstrated that alterations in the distribution of feedback loop limbs within the population could selectively modify the slopes of correlations observed in the data. They identified that non-random, interdependent associations among feedback loop limbs could produce discrepancies between experimentally determined slopes of feedback loops and those derived from population data. Specifically, the empirical analysis revealed evidence of such interdependence in systems involving free thyroxine and thyrotropin, hemoglobin and erythropoietin, and glucose and insulin. Notably, the glucose/insulin system showed increasing interdependence with age during childhood.
The findings strongly supported the hypothesis that interdependence among the limbs of feedback loops is a pervasive characteristic of endocrine homeostatic regulation. The interdependence likely confers evolutionary advantages in effectively maintaining and regulating physiological balance.
Reference: joe.bioscientifica.com/view/journals/joe/262/1/JOE-23-0384.xml
