Articles
Vol. 70 No. 3 (2026)
Depot-dependent peroxisome response in the rat white adipose tissue under hypothyroidism
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Published: 23 July 2026
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The effect of thyroid hormones (TH) on metabolism and energy balance relies on their impact on lipid storage in adipose tissue (AT). Since peroxisomes play a key role in lipid metabolism in white AT, hypothyroidism may critically influence peroxisome population/dynamics. This study aimed to determine depot- and time-dependent effects of methimazole-induced hypothyroidism on peroxisome biogenesis and remodeling in rat white AT. Hypothyroidism was induced using 0.04% methimazole over 7, 15, or 21 days. We show that hypothyroidism affects peroxisome biogenesis in subcutaneous AT (SAT) and visceral AT (VAT) (mesenteric-mVAT, retroperitoneal-rVAT and gonadal-gVAT) in a depot-specific manner. Firstly, although a gradual increase in peroxisomal number is present in all of the AT depots examined, the time course differs. Secondly, according to ultrastructural and protein expression analyses of Pex11β, Pex19, and PPARα, biogenesis pathways are switching from canonical to de novo pathway in hypothyroidism, again distinctively across particular depots. Furthermore, this is accompanied by the emergence of unusual peroxisomal structures (pexopodium) infiltrating lipid bodies in VAT. The absence of acyl-coenzyme A oxidase 1 (ACOX1) suggests that such structures may develop as a consequence of uncoordinated oxidation of accumulated fatty acids in VAT. The presence of pexopodium was increased from day 15 of hypothyroidism in mVAT. However, this increase was transient in rVAT and gVAT, indicating different peroxisomal dynamics between VAT depots during the monitored period of induction. Pexopodium-like structures were not observed in SAT. Our results identify peroxisomal remodeling as a previously underappreciated component of adipose tissue plasticity in hypothyroidism. Discrete temporal and depot-specific responses, including the formation of pexopodia in VAT, underscore the functional heterogeneity of white AT depots and suggest that peroxisomal dynamics may contribute to regional metabolic vulnerability under thyroid hormone deficiency over the time.
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Ethics Approval
the experiment has been conducted under the authorization of the Ethic Committee for the treatment of experimental animals of the Faculty of Biology at the University of Belgrade and by the Veterinary Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of the Republic of SerbiaCRediT authorship contribution
Ahsein Addloli, data curation, formal analysis, writing - original draft. Marija Ilic, formal analysis, writing - original draft. Tamara Zakic, formal analysis. Bato Korac, conceptualization, writing - original draft, writing - review & editing. Aleksandra Cvoro, formal analysis, writing - original draft, writing - review & editing. Aleksandra Jankovic, formal analysis, writing - original draft, writing - review & editing. Aleksandra Korac, conceptualization, formal analysis, writing - original draft, writing - review & editing.
All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Supporting Agencies
Ministry of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation of the Republic of SerbiaData Availability Statement
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.
How to Cite
1.
Addloli A, Ilic M, Zakic T, Korac B, Cvoro A, Jankovic A, et al. Depot-dependent peroxisome response in the rat white adipose tissue under hypothyroidism. Eur J Histochem [Internet]. 2026 Jul. 23 [cited 2026 Jul. 24];70(3). Available from: https://www.ejh.it/ejh/article/view/4574
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