# Mechanisms of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Thyroid Axis Aging

> **NIH NIH R01** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $346,133

## Abstract

Abstract:
Increases in the blood levels of the hormone thyrotropin (TSH), which regulates
thyroid function, can signal thyroid disease in older adults; but changes may also
represent adaptations to aging or changes in pituitary function. It is important for
medical practice to know the difference in order to use hormone therapy in those
who need it while avoiding harm from over-treatment in those who don’t. The two
groups look the same when TSH is measured, but we know that there are
underlying processes that are very different. By analyzing simultaneous trends in
multiple hormones (TSH and thyroid hormones) for 640 participants in the
Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging with between 3-12 years of follow up, we
have demonstrated that both age related changes and thyroid disease occur in
people with similar TSH levels. Therefore, a single TSH level, the current means
of diagnosing early thyroid failure, is not enough to plan treatment in older adults.
We are looking for other tests that could be done to tell the difference between
adaptation and disease. We will compare the activity of the TSH hormone, the
ability of the pituitary to respond to stimulation, the presence of antibodies, and
other blood tests that may serve as markers between these different groups of
people. This work is important because when older adults are treated with thyroid
hormone un-necessarily, it can do more harm than good by increasing the risk of
irregular heart rhythms or bone loss. We know that doctors in the US and the UK
have become more aggressive in prescribing thyroid hormone over the past
decade, and the number of older adults is growing rapidly, lending increased
urgency to this research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9973551
- **Project number:** 1R01AG064256-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer Sophie Mammen
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $346,133
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9973551

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9973551, Mechanisms of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Thyroid Axis Aging (1R01AG064256-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9973551. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*