Arecoline ameliorates hyperthyroid condition in mice under cold stress

Abstract

Betel nut of Areca catechu is chewed by millions of people for increased capacity to work and stress reduction, but it contains arecoline that causes hypothyroidism. The aim is to investigate the role of arecoline on thyroid activity in cold stress in mice. Arecoline treatment (10 mg/kg body wt/day, for 7 d) caused a reduction in thyroid weight and ultrastructural degeneration of thyro-follicular cells with depletion of T₃ and T₄ levels compared with the control mice. Cold stress (4 °C for 2 h, twice daily, for 7 d) stimulated thyroid activity ultrastructurally with an elevation of T₃ and T₄ levels. Arecoline treatment in cold stress suppressed thyroid activity by showing reversed changes to those of cold stress. In contrast, TSH concentrations were consistently increased under all experimental conditions. The findings suggest that cold stress causes hyperthyroidism which arecoline can ameliorate in mice.

Keywords:

• Arecoline
• cold stress
• thyroid
• mice

Disclosure statement

There is no conflict of interest regarding publication of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Emeritus Fellowship Grant (No. F0.6-6/2003/SA-II) of the University Grants Commission, Govt. of India, awarded to Professor B. R. Maiti.