Influences of feeding of high-iodine eggs on hypo- and hyperthyroid rats.

The effects of the feeding of high-iodine eggs to rats with an abnormal thyroid status were investigated. Rats were fed for one week on a commercial diet supplemented with propylthiouracil (PTU) (10 mg/100 g diet) or thyroxine-Na (240 micrograms/100 g diet) respectively, to induce hypo- or hyperthyroidism, and then further fed for 4 weeks on the respective drug-supplemented diets, containing 1% (w/w) of either ordinary or high-iodine egg powder. Control (euthyroid) rats were maintained on the commercial diet. The induction of a hypothyroid state resulted in thyroid hyperplasia, with decreased thyroid iodine content, altered serum thyroid relating hormone levels (increased TSH and decreased T3 and T4), elevated serum total cholesterol and reduced serum triacylglycerol (TG) levels, and also increased muscle and adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activities. In contrast, in the hyperthyroid animals, thyroid atrophy, as well as decreased serum TSH and increased T3 and T4 levels, was associated with reduced serum total cholesterol level and muscle LPL activity. There were no essential differences between animals given high-iodine and ordinary eggs in either hypo- or hyperthyroid state, although the effects of PTU treatment on the thyroid and serum TG level appeared to be slightly lesser in rats given high-iodine eggs than in those given ordinary eggs. It is concluded that high-iodine eggs did not have any side-effect on either hypo- or hyperthyroid rat in this study.