Comparative Efficacy and Toxicity of Different Species of in Haizao Yuhu Decoction in PTU-Induced Goiter Rats.

BACKGROUND

Haizao Yuhu Decoction has been widely used to treat thyroid-related diseases especially goiter with few side effects in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), including herb pair (HZ) and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (GC), as one of "eighteen antagonistic medicaments." The two different species of , (Sf) and (Sp), are not clearly differentiated in clinical use, so that herb pair Sf-GC and Sp-GC could show different effect and toxicity.

METHODS

We investigated the antigoitrous effect and toxicity and clarified the potential underlying mechanism of the two different species of in HYD (HYDf and HYDp) in PTU-reduced goiter rats.

RESULTS

The results demonstrated that both HYDf and HYDp could exhibit antigoitrous effect through alterations in hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis and inhibition of the TPO gene expression; there is no difference in the antigoitrous effects between the two different species of application in HYD.

CONCLUSION

This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of herb pair HZ-GC applied in HYD in goiter rats at molecular, cellular, and whole level and compared the two species of further. We provide a reliable way to clarify the possible mechanism of the antagonistic medicament herb pair HZ-GC for its application.