Attenuation of Oxidative Stress and Cytokines in Rabbits with Experimentally Induced Hyperthyroidism by Ethanolic Red Cabbage Extract

The protective effects of red cabbage extract (RCE) on oxidative damage in rabbits with experimentally induced hyperthyroidism were studied on forty male New Zealand rabbits. The experimental animals were randomly divided into 4 groups :(healthy as (control), hyperthyroidism, hyperthyroidism treated with vitamine E and hyperthyroidism treated with RCE .Hyperthyroidism was induced by oral administration of 20 μg/kg b.w/day L-thyroxine for 4 weeks. At the end of the experimental period, blood samples were taken from heart puncture of all animals for the determination of oxidant/antioxidant biomarkers: lipid peroxidation marker malonaldehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), Catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) ,triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) , thyroxine-stimulating hormone (TSH),interleukin 6 (IL-6),interleukin 10 (IL-10) and tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α) levels. Our results indicate that levels of MDA, T3 , T4 ,IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α were significantly increased(P<0.05) in sera of the hyperthyroid animal group, while SOD; GPx, CAT, GSH and TSH levels were decreased significantly (p<0.05) compared to the control group. Hyperthyroid rabbits treated with 100 mg/kg.b.w daily of RCE for 4 weeks decreased significantly the elevated MDA, T3 ,T4, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α levels and restore levels of GSH, GPx, SOD, CAT and TSH to control value. In conclusion, results indicated that RCE was beneficial as a protective agent against oxidative stress induced by hyperthyroidism and it had antihyperthyroid activity for the first time