Therapeutic Evaluation of Selected Herbal Supplements on Thyroid Hormones of Cyanide – Induced Hyperthyroidism in Female Albino Rats

Aim: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of some herbal supplements on thyroid hormones of cyanide – induced hyperthyroidism in Female Albino Rats.

Study Design: Experimental study.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Rivers State University, Rivers State University Teaching Hospital and Department of Pharmacology, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, between July and September, 2020.

Methodology: 150 female albino rats were used for this study. The rats were divided into ten groups of fifteen rats each: group A-negative control, group B-positive control, group C- orthodox drug (propranolol), group D-herbal supplement (motherwort), group E-bugleweed, group F-Garcinia kola, group G-propranolol and bugleweed, group H-propranolol and motherwort, group I-propranolol and Garcinia kola, and group J-bugleweed and motherwort. Hyperthyroidism was induced in groups B to J by the oral administration of 2.4 mg/kg of potassium hexacyanoferrate III salt and given every two days to sustain the induction. The rats were treated with the drug, supplements and seed extract for 14, 30 and 60 days. On the 15th, 31st, and 61th days after overnight fast, the rats were anesthetized with chloroform and sacrificed through cardiac puncture. 5ml of blood samples was put into plain bottles for the analysis of thyroid hormones. The thyroid function (triiodothyronine -T3, thyroxine -T4, and thyroid stimulating hormone -TSH) were analyzed using the ELISA technique. GraphPad Prism 5.6. was used to analyze the data and mean values were considered statistically significant at P< .05.

Results: The results showed that there were significant increases (p<.01) in the levels of T3 and T4 and decreases in TSH levels for days 14, 30 and 60 of the experiment after rats were exposed to cyanide. Treatment with the herbal products at some points significantly reduced T3 andT4 levels, while TSH levels were significantly increased. The combination therapies used in this study did not offer significantly different therapeutic advantage over the individual therapies.

Conclusion: Cyanide exposure in rats caused hyperthyroidism, but administration of some herbal supplements ameliorated the effect of cyanide, therefore, more studies on these supplements are suggested.