Morphometric parameters of thyroid gland, liver, and kidney on administration of thyroxine followed by Bauhinia Purpurea and Withania somnifera in female albino rats

Abstract

Background: The use of herbs in traditional medicine is to support thyroid health and their major importance can benefit both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. Objective: to study the morphometric parameters of the thyroid, liver, and kidney on administration of thyroxine followed by Bauhinia purpurea and Withania somnifera in animals. Materials and Methods: Thirty adult female Albino rats weighing 150-230 grams were used for the present study. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Animal Ethical Committee (No.878/ac/05/CPCSEA/23/11) from Raghavendra Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (RIPER), Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. The animals were divided into 5 groups and each group consisted of 6 animals. The body weight of the animals and the weight of the organs like the thyroid, liver and kidney were recorded. Results: We observed significant body weight reduction (170.32 + 8.45) in animals treated with thyroxine (0.5 mg/kg b.w) alone group than control group animals (191.36+17.32) in the present study. The body weight was significantly increased (187.72+7.026) in rats treated with thyroxine (0.5 mg/kg b.w) followed by Bauhinia purpurea (150mg) and Withania somnifera (1000mg) when compared with thyroxine alone group (170.32 + 8.45) was noted. The weight of the thyroid gland was significantly reduced(18.13 + 1.12) in rats treated with thyroxine alone (0.5 mg/kg b.w) treated animals than the control group (23.96 + 1.41) in our study. We also noted that, there was a significant increase in the weight of the kidney and weight of the liver in thyroxine alone (0.5 mg/kg b.w) treated group (2.79+ 0.03; 9.14 + 0.13) than control group (2.01+ 0.07; 7.41+ 0.81) in the present study. Conclusion: The thyroxine-alone treated animals showed a significant reduction in the body weight of the animal and thyroid gland compared to other experimental and control groups, whereas liver and kidney weight was significantly increased in thyroxine-alone treated animals than in control and other experimental groups.