A comparative study on the effects of excess iodine and herbs with excess iodine on thyroid oxidative stress in iodine-deficient rats.

This study aimed to compare the effect of excess iodine and herbs with excess iodine on treating iodine deficiency-induced goiter from the perspective of oxidative stress and to measure selenium values in Chinese herbs. One hundred twenty 4-week-old Wistar rats were selected and randomly divided into four groups after inducing iodine-deficiency goiter: normal control group (NC), model control group (MC), iodine excess group (IE), and herbs with iodine excess group (HIE). The activities of oxidative enzymes and levels of oxidative products were measured using biochemical tests. The expression of 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) in the thyroid was detected by immunohistochemistry and the expression of peroxiredoxin 5 (PRDX5) by the Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Selenium values in iodine-excessive herbs were measured by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The herbs with iodine excess were tested to contain rich selenium. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and PRDX5 increased markedly, and the values of malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-HNE decreased significantly in the HIE group. In conclusion, compared with excess iodine, herbs with excess iodine damaged thyroid follicular cells less, which may be related to the increase of antioxidant capacity and rich selenium values in iodine-excessive herbs.

Inhibition of thyroid peroxidase by Myrcia uniflora flavonoids.

Thyroid peroxidase (TPO), the key enzyme in thyroid hormone biosynthesis, is inhibited by dietary flavonoids; thus, a high consumption of plants containing inhibitory flavonoids may affect thyroid function and lead to hypothyroidism. In this work, TPO inhibition by the aqueous partition of Myrcia uniflora and its isolated compounds has been evaluated. The aqueous partition of the methanolic extract of M. uniflora is able to inhibit TPO activity in vitro. Two known flavonoids were isolated and characterized by mass spectrometry and (1)H NMR from plant extracts: mearnsitrin and myricitrin. The degree of TPO inhibition produced by the aqueous solution of the flavonoids was very high, with a 50% inhibition of the original TPO activity (IC(50)) obtained at 1.97 microM mearnsitrin and at 2.88 microM myricitrin. These results suggest that the indiscriminated consumption of M. uniflora pharmaceutical products allied to the nutritional deficiency of iodine might contribute to the development of hypothyroidism and goiter.

Deficient cytochrome b5 reductase activity in nontoxic goiter with iodide organification defect.

A 37-yr-old woman with nontoxic goiter is presented. The thyroid 131I uptake at 3 and 24 hr were, respectively, 77.1% and 81.4% dose. Thiocyanate discharged 65.5% of the accumulated 131I in 30 min. In vitro organification of iodine in the thyroid homogenate from the patient was impaired and it was restored to normal by the addition of H2O2, glucose, and glucose oxidase system, FAD, or reduced cytochrome b5. Riboflavin, FMN, oxidized cytochrome b5, oxidized or reduced cytochrome c, NAD(H), and NADP(H) were ineffective in the reaction. The microsomal NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase activity was definitely low in the patient's thyroid. It was augmented to a normal level by incubation of the microsomes with FAD for 30 min or more. The activities of thyroid peroxidase, G6-PD, 6-PGD, catalase, protease, and NADPH-cytochrome c reductase were within normal limits. The major thyroid protein was normal thyroglobulin which could be readily iodinated in the presence of H2O2 and horse radish peroxidase. These findings suggest the correlation of an iodide organification defect with a cytochrome b5 reductase deficiency. Administration of high doses of FAD led to the restoration of thyroidal iodide organification mechanism associated with an increased thyroid hormone production and to a marked decrease of the goiter. Riboflavin was given without effect even at a high dosage level. Consequently, it seems likely that the deficient cytochrome b5 reductase activity in this patient is due to a defect in the biosynthesis of FAD, the coenzyme of the reductase, from riboflavin.