Evidence for stress-induced apoptosis is provided by the transcriptome profile of Pax8 +/- islets that reveal, on one hand, higher metabolism-secretion coupling, likely due to hypothyroidism-induced insulin resistance, and, on the other hand, lower antioxidant defences, likely resulting in β-cell exhaustion and apoptosis at long-term. This evidence concerns the gene PAX8 and hypothyroidism.