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Relationship: 2038

Title

The title of the KER should clearly define the two KEs being considered and the sequential relationship between them (i.e., which is upstream and which is downstream). Consequently all KER titles take the form “upstream KE leads to downstream KE”.  More help

T4 in serum, Decreased leads to Decreased, Triiodothyronine (T3) in serum

Upstream event
Upstream event in the Key Event Relationship. On the KER page, clicking on the Event name under Upstream Relationship will bring the user to that individual KE page. More help
T4 in serum, Decreased
Downstream event
Downstream event in the Key Event Relationship. On the KER page, clicking on the Event name under Upstream Relationship will bring the user to that individual KE page. More help
Decreased, Triiodothyronine (T3) in serum

Key Event Relationship Overview

The utility of AOPs for regulatory application is defined, to a large extent, by the confidence and precision with which they facilitate extrapolation of data measured at low levels of biological organisation to predicted outcomes at higher levels of organisation and the extent to which they can link biological effect measurements to their specific causes. Within the AOP framework, the predictive relationships that facilitate extrapolation are represented by the KERs. Consequently, the overall WoE for an AOP is a reflection in part, of the level of confidence in the underlying series of KERs it encompasses. Therefore, describing the KERs in an AOP involves assembling and organising the types of information and evidence that defines the scientific basis for inferring the probable change in, or state of, a downstream KE from the known or measured state of an upstream KE. More help

AOPs Referencing Relationship

This table is automatically generated upon addition of a KER to an AOP. All of the AOPs that are linked to this KER will automatically be listed in this subsection. Clicking on the name of the AOP in the table will bring you to the individual page for that AOP. More help
AOP Name Adjacency Weight of Evidence Quantitative Understanding Point of Contact Author Status OECD Status
Thyroperoxidase inhibition leading to increased mortality via reduced anterior swim bladder inflation adjacent Moderate Moderate Dries Knapen (send email) Open for adoption EAGMST Under Review
Thyroperoxidase inhibition leading to increased mortality via altered eye structure adjacent Lucia Vergauwen (send email) Under development: Not open for comment. Do not cite

Taxonomic Applicability

Select one or more structured terms that help to define the biological applicability domain of the KER. In general, this will be dictated by the more restrictive of the two KEs being linked together by the KER. Authors can indicate the relevant taxa for this KER in this subsection. The process is similar to what is described for KEs (see pages 30-31 and 37-38 of User Handbook) More help
Term Scientific Term Evidence Link
zebrafish Danio rerio High NCBI
fathead minnow Pimephales promelas Moderate NCBI

Sex Applicability

Authors can indicate the relevant sex for this KER in this subsection. The process is similar to what is described for KEs (see pages 31-32 of the User Handbook). More help
Sex Evidence
Unspecific High

Life Stage Applicability

Authors can indicate the relevant life stage for this KER in this subsection. The process is similar to what is described for KEs (see pages 31-32 of User Handbook). More help
Term Evidence
Juvenile Moderate
larvae Moderate

Key Event Relationship Description

Provide a brief, descriptive summation of the KER. While the title itself is fairly descriptive, this section can provide details that aren’t inherent in the description of the KEs themselves (see page 39 of the User Handbook). This description section can be viewed as providing the increased specificity in the nature of upstream perturbation (KEupstream) that leads to a particular downstream perturbation (KEdownstream), while allowing the KE descriptions to remain generalised so they can be linked to different AOPs. The description is also intended to provide a concise overview for readers who may want a brief summation, without needing to read through the detailed support for the relationship (covered below). Careful attention should be taken to avoid reference to other KEs that are not part of this KER, other KERs or other AOPs. This will ensure that the KER is modular and can be used by other AOPs. More help

When serum thyroxine (T4) levels are decreased, less T4 is available for conversion to the more biologically active triiodothyronine (T3). While some thyroid hormone (TH) disrupting mechanisms can immediately affect T3 levels, including deiodinase inhibition, other mechanisms reduce T4 levels, for example through inhibition of TH synthesis, leading to decreased T3 levels.

Since in fish early life stages TH are typically measured on a whole body level, it is currently uncertain whether TH levels changes occur at the serum and/or tissue level. Pending more dedicated studies, whole body TH levels are considered a proxy for serum TH levels.

This key event relationship is not always evident. This could be due to feedback/compensatory mechanisms that in some cases seem to be able to maintain T3 levels even though T4 levels are reduced, for example through increased conversion of T4 to T3 by deiodinases.

Evidence Supporting this KER

Assembly and description of the scientific evidence supporting KERs in an AOP is an important step in the AOP development process that sets the stage for overall assessment of the AOP (see pages 49-56 of the User Handbook). To do this, biological plausibility, empirical support, and the current quantitative understanding of the KER are evaluated with regard to the predictive relationships/associations between defined pairs of KEs as a basis for considering WoE (page 55 of User Handbook). In addition, uncertainties and inconsistencies are considered. More help
Biological Plausibility
Define, in free text, the biological rationale for a connection between KEupstream and KEdownstream. What are the structural or functional relationships between the KEs? For example, there is a functional relationship between an enzyme’s activity and the product of a reaction it catalyses. Supporting references should be included. However, it is recognised that there may be cases where the biological relationship between two KEs is very well established, to the extent that it is widely accepted and consistently supported by so much literature that it is unnecessary and impractical to cite the relevant primary literature. Citation of review articles or other secondary sources, like text books, may be reasonable in such cases. The primary intent is to provide scientifically credible support for the structural and/or functional relationship between the pair of KEs if one is known. The description of biological plausibility can also incorporate additional mechanistic details that help inform the relationship between KEs, this is useful when it is not practical/pragmatic to represent these details as separate KEs due to the difficulty or relative infrequency with which it is likely to be measured (see page 40 of the User Handbook for further information).   More help

When serum thyroxine (T4) levels are decreased, less T4 is available for conversion to the more biologically active triiodothyronine (T3). It is plausible to assume that while some thyroid hormone (TH) disrupting mechanisms can immediately affect T3 levels, including deiodinase inhibition, other mechanisms reduce T4 levels, for example through inhibition of TH synthesis, leading to decreased T3 levels.

Uncertainties and Inconsistencies
In addition to outlining the evidence supporting a particular linkage, it is also important to identify inconsistencies or uncertainties in the relationship. Additionally, while there are expected patterns of concordance that support a causal linkage between the KEs in the pair, it is also helpful to identify experimental details that may explain apparent deviations from the expected patterns of concordance. Identification of uncertainties and inconsistencies contribute to evaluation of the overall WoE supporting the AOPs that contain a given KER and to the identification of research gaps that warrant investigation (seep pages 41-42 of the User Handbook).Given that AOPs are intended to support regulatory applications, AOP developers should focus on those inconsistencies or gaps that would have a direct bearing or impact on the confidence in the KER and its use as a basis for inference or extrapolation in a regulatory setting. Uncertainties that may be of academic interest but would have little impact on regulatory application don’t need to be described. In general, this section details evidence that may raise questions regarding the overall validity and predictive utility of the KER (including consideration of both biological plausibility and empirical support). It also contributes along with several other elements to the overall evaluation of the WoE for the KER (see Section 4 of the User Handbook).  More help
  • Since in fish early life stages THs are typically measured on a whole body level, it is currently uncertain whether TH levels changes occur at the serum and/or tissue level. Pending more dedicated studies, whole body TH levels are considered a proxy for serum TH levels.
  • This relationship depends on the MIE that is causing the decrease in T3. For example, deiodinase inhibition results in reduced activation of T4 to T3 and thus in reduced T3 levels; increased T4 levels have been observed, probably as a compensatory mechanism in response to the lower T3 levels. For example, Cavallin et al. (2017) exposed fathead minnows to iopanoic acid, a deiodinase inhibitor, and observed T4 increases together with T3 decreases.
  • This key event relationship is not always evident. This could be due to feedback/compensatory mechanisms that in some cases seem to be able to maintain T3 levels even though T4 levels are reduced, for example through increased conversion of T4 to T3 by deiodinases. Examples of studies showing reduced T4 levels in the absence of reduced T3 levels:
    • Zebrafish exposed to 0.35 mg/L 2-mercaptobenzothiazole, a thyroperoxidase inhibitor, through 32 dpf showed decreased whole-body T4, but T3 levels showed particularly large variation and overall were not significantly decreased (Stinckens et al., 2016).
    • Although T4 content of 28 dpf larval fathead minnows exposed to 32 or 100 µg/l methimazole, a thyroperoxidase inhibitor, was reduced, these fish showed no change in whole body T3 content (Crane et al., 2006). Significantly higher T3/T4 ratios in fish held in 100 µg/l methimazole suggest an increased conversion of T4 to T3 or reduced degradation and conjugation during continued exposure to methimazole
Response-response Relationship
This subsection should be used to define sources of data that define the response-response relationships between the KEs. In particular, information regarding the general form of the relationship (e.g., linear, exponential, sigmoidal, threshold, etc.) should be captured if possible. If there are specific mathematical functions or computational models relevant to the KER in question that have been defined, those should also be cited and/or described where possible, along with information concerning the approximate range of certainty with which the state of the KEdownstream can be predicted based on the measured state of the KEupstream (i.e., can it be predicted within a factor of two, or within three orders of magnitude?). For example, a regression equation may reasonably describe the response-response relationship between the two KERs, but that relationship may have only been validated/tested in a single species under steady state exposure conditions. Those types of details would be useful to capture.  More help
Time-scale
This sub-section should be used to provide information regarding the approximate time-scale of the changes in KEdownstream relative to changes in KEupstream (i.e., do effects on KEdownstream lag those on KEupstream by seconds, minutes, hours, or days?). This can be useful information both in terms of modelling the KER, as well as for analyzing the critical or dominant paths through an AOP network (e.g., identification of an AO that could kill an organism in a matter of hours will generally be of higher priority than other potential AOs that take weeks or months to develop). Identification of time-scale can also aid the assessment of temporal concordance. For example, for a KER that operates on a time-scale of days, measurement of both KEs after just hours of exposure in a short-term experiment could lead to incorrect conclusions regarding dose-response or temporal concordance if the time-scale of the upstream to downstream transition was not considered. More help
Known modulating factors
This sub-section presents information regarding modulating factors/variables known to alter the shape of the response-response function that describes the quantitative relationship between the two KEs (for example, an iodine deficient diet causes a significant increase in the slope of the relationship; a particular genotype doubles the sensitivity of KEdownstream to changes in KEupstream). Information on these known modulating factors should be listed in this subsection, along with relevant information regarding the manner in which the modulating factor can be expected to alter the relationship (if known). Note, this section should focus on those modulating factors for which solid evidence supported by relevant data and literature is available. It should NOT list all possible/plausible modulating factors. In this regard, it is useful to bear in mind that many risk assessments conducted through conventional apical guideline testing-based approaches generally consider few if any modulating factors. More help
Known Feedforward/Feedback loops influencing this KER
This subsection should define whether there are known positive or negative feedback mechanisms involved and what is understood about their time-course and homeostatic limits? In some cases where feedback processes are measurable and causally linked to the outcome, they should be represented as KEs. However, in most cases these features are expected to predominantly influence the shape of the response-response, time-course, behaviours between selected KEs. For example, if a feedback loop acts as compensatory mechanism that aims to restore homeostasis following initial perturbation of a KE, the feedback loop will directly shape the response-response relationship between the KERs. Given interest in formally identifying these positive or negative feedback, it is recommended that a graphical annotation (page 44) indicating a positive or negative feedback loop is involved in a particular upstream to downstream KE transition (KER) be added to the graphical representation, and that details be provided in this subsection of the KER description (see pages 44-45 of the User Handbook).  More help

This key event relationship is not always evident. This could be due to feedback/compensatory mechanisms that in some cases seem to be able to maintain T3 levels even though T4 levels are reduced, for example through increased conversion of T4 to T3 by deiodinases. Examples of studies showing reduced T4 levels in the absence of reduced T3 levels:

  • Zebrafish exposed to 0.35 mg/L 2-mercaptobenzothiazole, a thyroperoxidase inhibitor, through 32 dpf showed decreased whole-body T4, but T3 levels showed particularly large variation and overall were not significantly decreased (Stinckens et al., 2016).
  • Although T4 content of 28 dpf larval fathead minnows exposed to 32 or 100 µg/l methimazole, a thyroperoxidase inhibitor, was reduced, these fish showed no change in whole body T3 content (Crane et al., 2006). Significantly higher T3/T4 ratios in fish held in 100 µg/l methimazole suggest an increased conversion of T4 to T3 or reduced degradation and conjugation during continued exposure to methimazole

This relationship depends on the MIE that is causing the decrease in T3. For example, deiodinase inhibition results in reduced activation of T4 to T3 and thus in reduced T3 levels; increased T4 levels have been observed, probably as a compensatory mechanism in response to the lower T3 levels. For example, Cavallin et al. (2017) exposed fathead minnows to iopanoic acid, a deiodinase inhibitor, and observed T4 increases together with T3 decreases.

Domain of Applicability

As for the KEs, there is also a free-text section of the KER description that the developer can use to explain his/her rationale for the structured terms selected with regard to taxonomic, life stage, or sex applicability, or provide a more generalizable or nuanced description of the applicability domain than may be feasible using standardized terms. More help

Taxonomic: The evidence for a relationship between circulating T4 and T3 levels currently comes from work on zebrafish and fathead minnow.

Life stage: This key event relationship is applicable to late larvae and juveniles rather than to embryos, because of the presence of maternal TH in embryos.

Uncertainties during embryonic lifestage:

  • A decrease in T4 was observed in fathead minnows exposed to 1 mg/L 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT), a thyroperoxidase inhibitor, through 6 dpf (Nelson et al., 2016). In contrast, there was no observed effect on T3 in fathead minnows exposed to MBT through 6 dpf. Comparably, zebrafish exposed to 0.4 or 0.7 mg/L MBT through 120 hpf showed decreased T4 but not T3 (Stinckens et al., 2016). During this early larval life stage, T3 may have been derived from maternal T4. In addition, it could be produced from further depletion of any T4 still produced by the thyroid gland (as thyroperoxidase may not have been fully inhibited at the tested exposure concentrations).
  • Since exposure to PFAS did result in decreased whole-body T4 and T3 in 5 day old zebrafish, the life-stage specificity possibly depends on the mechanism that lies at the basis of the TH changes (Wang et al., 2020). The exact mechanisms by which PFAS disrupt the thyroid hormone system remain uncertain. Compounds that directly reduce T3 levels (e.g., deiodinase inhibitors) in addition to reducing T4 levels via another mechanism can be expected to result in decreased T4 and T3 levels.

Sex: This KER is probably not sex-dependent since both females and males have the same mechanisms of TH synthesis and conversion. Additionally, zebrafish are undifferentiated gonochorists, and gonad differentiation starts only around 23-25 dpf (Uchida et al., 2002), and the current data is based on larvae younger than or around that age.

References

List of the literature that was cited for this KER description using the appropriate format. Ideally, the list of references should conform, to the extent possible, with the OECD Style Guide (OECD, 2015). More help

Cavallin, J.E., Ankley, G.T., Blackwell, B.R., Blanksma, C.A., Fay, K.A., Jensen, K.M., Kahl, M.D., Knapen, D., Kosian, P.A., Poole, S.T., Randolph, E.C., Schroeder, A.L., Vergauwen, L., Villeneuve, D.L., 2017. Impaired swim bladder inflation in early life stage fathead minnows exposed to a deiodinase inhibitor, iopanoic acid. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 36, 2942-2952.

Crane, H.M., Pickford, D.B., Hutchinson, T.H., Brown, J.A., 2006. The effects of methimazole on development of the fathead minnow, pimephales promelas, from embryo to adult. Toxicological Sciences 93, 278-285.

Nelson, K., Schroeder, A., Ankley, G., Blackwell, B., Blanksma, C., Degitz, S., Flynn, K., Jensen, K., Johnson, R., Kahl, M., Knapen, D., Kosian, P., Milsk, R., Randolph, E., Saari, T., Stinckens, E., Vergauwen, L., Villeneuve, D., 2016. Impaired anterior swim bladder inflation following exposure to the thyroid peroxidase inhibitor 2-mercaptobenzothiazole part I: Fathead minnow. Aquatic Toxicology 173, 192-203.

Stinckens, E., Vergauwen, L., Blackwell, B.R., Anldey, G.T., Villeneuve, D.L., Knapen, D., 2020. Effect of Thyroperoxidase and Deiodinase Inhibition on Anterior Swim Bladder Inflation in the Zebrafish. Environmental Science & Technology 54, 6213-6223.

Stinckens, E., Vergauwen, L., Schroeder, A., Maho, W., Blackwell, B., Witters, H., Blust, R., Ankley, G., Covaci, A., Villeneuve, D., Knapen, D., 2016. Impaired anterior swim bladder inflation following exposure to the thyroid peroxidase inhibitor 2-mercaptobenzothiazole part II: Zebrafish. Aquatic Toxicology 173, 204-217.

Wang, J.X., Shi, G.H., Yao, J.Z., Sheng, N., Cui, R.N., Su, Z.B., Guo, Y., Dai, J.Y., 2020. Perfluoropolyether carboxylic acids (novel alternatives to PFOA) impair zebrafish posterior swim bladder development via thyroid hormone disruption. Environment International 134.