Vitamin D alleviates hypothyroidism associated liver dysfunction: Histological and biochemical evidence

Seyed Hamidreza Rastegar-Moghaddam; Mahsan Akbarian; Arezoo Rajabian; Fatemeh Alipour; Alireza Ebrahimzadeh Bideskan; Mahmoud Hosseini

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18860

Vitamin D alleviates hypothyroidism associated liver dysfunction: Histological and biochemical evidence

Heliyon. 2023 Aug 2;9(8):e18860. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18860. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Seyed Hamidreza Rastegar-Moghaddam^{1

2}, Mahsan Akbarian³, Arezoo Rajabian⁴, Fatemeh Alipour², Alireza Ebrahimzadeh Bideskan^{2

3}, Mahmoud Hosseini^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Student Research Committee, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
² Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
³ Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁵ Division of Neurocognitive Sciences, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁶ Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

Abstract

There is a complex correlation between thyroid hormones (THs) and liver function. Hypothyroidism as a failure of the thyroid gland to produce adequate thyroid hormones to fulfill the metabolic requirements of the body, may perturb liver structure and function. Emerging evidence suggests the protective effects of vitamin D against liver damage. Herein, this study aimed to investigate the role of vitamin D in hypothyroidism-associated liver injury. Forty male Wistar rats were classified into 4 groups: control, hypothyroid (Hypo) group received 0.05% PTU, Hypo- Vitamin D groups were given 100 and 500 IU/kg vitamin D orally via gavage for 6 weeks. Serum level of liver function including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were measured. Malondialdehyde (MDA) level, superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity, and total thiol content were measured as oxidative stress indicators in the liver tissue. Furthermore, to estimate liver tissue fibrosis, Masson's trichrome staining was done. Our findings showed that hypothyroidism-induced liver fibrosis was associated with increased levels of ALT, AST and ALP. Though, vitamin D administration could significantly reduce the ALT, AST and ALP in the serum and suppress the accumulation of collagen fibers. Moreover, the activity of SOD and total thiol content was notably reduced, while the MDA content was significantly increased in the PTU- induced hypothyroid rats compared to the control group. Nonetheless, treatment with vitamin D improved mentioned oxidative stress markers in the Hypo-vitamin D groups. In conclusion, vitamin D due to its potential antioxidant and anti-fibrotic properties could be effective in the decrease of hypothyroidism-associated liver injury.

Keywords: Fibrosis; Hypothyroidism; Liver; Oxidative stress; Vitamin D.