The Effect of Alcoholic Extract of Physalis alkekengi on Serum Concentration of Thyroid Hormones in Rats

Background: There are different factors which are effective on maintaining homeostasis, especially by pituitary-thyroid axis hormones. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of Physalis alkekengi plant extract belonging to Solanaceae family on the concentration of the pituitary-thyroid axis hormones.
Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on five groups (n=10) of male Wistar rats (with mean weight 210±5g). The control group did not receive any substances, while the reference group received 0.2 ml normal saline daily and the experimental groups received maximum (0.4 g/kg), moderate (0.2 g/kg), and minimum (0.1 g/kg) intraperitoneal (IP) doses of the alcoholic extract for 14 days. At the end of this period, blood samples were drawn and the results were analyzed by SPSS-11.5 software.
Results: The results of statistical analysis showed significant increases in plasma concentrations of thyroxin (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) in the maximum dose group (p<0.05) with no significant changes in plasma concentrations of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).
Conclusion: Increases in T3 and T4 levels with no changes in TSH concentration indicate hyperthyroidism euthyroidism in which the levels of thyroid hormones increase while the amount of TSH remains constant. These changes could be due to plasma proteins increase including albumin, which are probably induced by physaline and alkaloids existing in Physalis alkekengi. So, these drug doses do not seem to bring about pathological changes in the pituitary-thyroid axis.