Therapeutic Effects of Blue Honeysuckle on Lesions of Hyperthyroidism in Rats

Abstract

Hyperthyroidism is a hypermetabolic syndrome characterized by an overproduction of thyroid hormones, which enhances the hormone-induced oxidative stress responsible for some complications in the liver, heart and muscle. Blue honeysuckle (BH) is an edible berry, rich in polyphenols, especially flavonoids or anthocyanins, known as strong antioxidants. The chemo-protective activities of the berry have been connected to the improvement of symptoms in cancer, diabetes mellitus, tumor or cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, the therapeutic effects of BH were examined in hyperthyroidism rat model. The hyperthyroidism was induced by injection with levothyroxine (LT4), and the model was treated with distilled water (LT4 control), propylthiouracil (PTU) or BH at 3 dosages of 500, 250 and 125[Formula: see text]mg/kg. The treatment was performed once a day for 15 days. Compared to LT4 control, the oral administration of BH dose-dependently ameliorated the hyperthyroidism, reducing thyroid hormones and increasing thyroid stimulating hormones. These effects were accompanied by improvement of body weight loss and atrophy in the thyroid gland, liver and epididymal fat pads. BH treatments also reduced the levels of hepatic enzymes (AST and ALT), which suggests BH exerts protective effects on hepatocytes. BH might also be involved in the augmentation of the anti-oxidant activities, supported by increased endogenous antioxidant (glutathione). In addition, the histopathological analyses revealed the beneficial effects of BH on the atrophic changes and cellular injuries in the thyroid gland, liver and epididymal fat pads. The therapeutic potentials of BH were either similar or more effective than PTU. These results provide valuable information that will guide more detailed studies to use the BH as a complementary and alternative medicine.

Anti-obesity and fatty liver-preventing activities of Lonicera�caerulea in high-fat diet-fed mice

“…These compounds have various biological activities, including marked antioxidant activity ( 26 ). Orally administered BH was identified to protect mice against ionizing radiation ( 27 ), ameliorate abnormal lipid and glucose metabolism in rats ( 28 ), and exert hepatoprotective ( 29 ), anti-inflammatory ( 30 ) and therapeutic ( 31 ) effects on hyperthyroidism. More specifically, BH extracts exhibited the most marked antioxidant potency among 12 types of colored berries ( 32 ), and the phenol-rich extracts of BH were demonstrated to have wound-healing and anti-inflammatory activates in in vitro and in vivo studies ( 30 ), in addition to protective properties against the skin damage caused by ultraviolet rays ( 33 ).…”

Hepatoprotective effects of blue honeysuckle on CCl4‐induced acute liver damaged mice

“…These compounds have been reported to exert multiple biological effects, including strong antioxidant activity (Svarcova et al, 2007). Recently, it was reported that orally administered BH protected mice against ionizing radiation (Zhao et al, 2012), ameliorated abnormal lipid and glucose metabolism in rats (Jurgoński, Juśkiewicz, & Zduńczyk, 2013), and exhibited hepatoprotective (Palíková, Valentová, Oborná, & Ulrichová, 2009), anti-inflammatory (Jin et al, 2006;Zdařilová, Svobodova, Chytilová, Šimánek, & Ulrichová, 2010), and therapeutic effects on hyperthyroidism (Park et al, 2016). In particular, BH extracts showed the strongest antioxidant potential among 12 different colored berries (Chen, Xin, Yuan, Su, & Liu, 2014); the phenolicrich extract of BH has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and wound-healing effects in vitro and in vivo (Jin et al, 2006) in addition to protective effects on the skin against ultraviolet-induced damage (Svobodová, Rambousková, Walterová, & Vostálová, 2008;Vostálová et al, 2013).…”

Evaluation of in vitro anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Korean and Chinese Lonicera caerulea

“…HB contains ascorbic acid and a number of phenolic components, especially anthocyanins, flavonoids, and low molecular-weight phenolic acids. It has been reported that HB extract exerts strong anti-oxidant effects [ 8 ], radioprotective effects against ionizing radiation in mice [ 5 ], hepatoprotective effects [ 9 ], anti-inflammatory effects [ 10 11 ], improvement of lipid and glucose metabolism [ 12 ], and therapeutic effects on hyperthyroidism [ 13 ]. Especially, HB extract has been shown to have the strongest anti-oxidant activity among 12 types of colored berries [ 14 ].…”