Abstract
Humic substances (HS) have been implicated as environmental goitrogens. Increased prevalence of goiter has been recently noticed in the blackfoot disease endemic area on the southwest coast of Taiwan, where well water is rich in HS. This study investigated the in vivo effects of humic acids (HA) on the thyroid gland of rats and mice. Groups of mice and rats were fed regular or moderately iodine deficient (∼167 vs 700 μg I− per kg) chow and distilled water or HA water (1 mg/ml) for 3 or 4 months. Serum T4, T3, reverse T3, and/or TSH were measured by radioimmunoassay. Thyroidal 125I uptake was measured in mice at 2 h after injection of 1 μCi125I ip. Treatment of the rat with HA was associated with a significantly (p<0.05) reduced serum T4 without a change in other parameters of study. Treatment with low iodine diet was associated with a clear increase in serum T3 and a decrease in serum rT3. Rats treated with both HA and low iodine diet showed a significantly reduced serum T4, increased serum T3 and decreased serum rT3. In mice, treatment with low iodine diet significantly increased thyroidal 125I uptake and additional treatment with HA significantly enhanced the effect of low iodine diet. Treatment with HA did not influence thyroid weight of rats or mice given normal or iodine deficient diets. We conclude that HA per se do not induce goiter, but they may enhance the goitrogenic effect of low iodine.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anonymous Humic acid. In: Windholz M., Budavari S., Blumetti R.R., Otterbin E.S. (Eds.), The Merck Index, ed. 10. Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories, Rahway, N.J. 1983, p. 4650.
Bollag J.M., Loll M.J. Incorporation of xenobiotics in soil humus. Experientia39: 1221, 1983.
Sato T., Ose Y., Nagase H., Hayade K. Adsorption of mutagens by humic acid. The Science of the Total Environment 62: 305, 1987.
Thanabalasingam P., Pickering W.F. Arsenic sorption by humic acids. Environ. Pollut. 12: 233, 1986.
Huljev D.J. Trace metals in Humic acids and their hydrolysis products. Environ. Res. 39: 258, 1986.
Madhun Y.A., Freed V.H., Young J.L. Binding of ionic and neutral herbicides by soil humic acid. Am. J. Soil. Sci. 50: 319, 1986.
Peng A., Xu L. The effects of humic acid on the chemical and biological properties of selenium in the environment. The science of the Total Environment 64: 89, 1987.
Burges N.A., Hurst H.M., Walkdene B. The phenolic constituents of humic acid and their relationship to the lingin of the plant cover. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 28: 1547, 1964.
Choudhry G.G. Humic substances. Part I: Structural aspects. Toxicol. Enuiron. Chem. 4: 209, 1981.
Keyser P., Pujar B.J., Eaton R.W., Ribons D.W. Biodegradation of the phthalates and their esters by bacteria. Environ. Health Perspect. 18: 159, 1976.
Jolley R.L., Gaitan E., Lee N.E., Lindsay R.J., Cooksey R.C., Hill J.R., Kelley K. Resorcinol, a potent antithyroid compound, detected in the water supply of a Colombia district with endemic goiter. J. Am. Chem. Soc. (Div. Environ. Chem.) 23: 175,1983.
Gaitan E., Jolley L., Lee N.E., Lindsay R.J., Cooksey R.C., Hill J.R., Kelly K. Phathalate ester: possible progoitrogens in water supply of a Colombia district with endemic goiter. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 23: 175, 1983.
Cooksey R.C., Gaitan E., Lindsay R.J., Hill J.R., Kelly K. Humic substances, a possible source of environmental goitrogens. Org. Geochem. 8: 77, 1985.
Gaitan E., Medina T.A., Zia M.S. Goiter prevalence and bacterial contamination of water supply. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 51: 957, 1980.
Lu F.J., Yamamura Y., Yamauchi H. Studies of flurorescent compounds in water of a well in blackfoot disease endemic areas in Taiwan: Humic substances. J. Formosan Med. Assoc. 87: 66, 1988.
Lu F.J., Hsieh H.P., Yamauchi H., Yamamura Y. Flurorescent humic substances-arsenic complex in well water in areas where blackfoot disease is endemic in Taiwan. Apple. Organomet. Chem. 5: 507, 1991.
Lin Y.C. Studies on causal mechanism of blackfoot disease. Mem. Coll. Med. Natl. Taiwan Univ. 17: 46, 1972.
Chang T.C., Hong M.C., Chen C.J. Higher prevalence of goiter in endemic area of blackfoot disease of Taiwan. J. Formosan Med. Assoc. 90: 941, 1991.
Arnott F.G., Doniach I. The effects of compounds allied to resorcinol upon the uptake of radioactive iodine (131I) by the thyroid of the rat. Biochem. J. 50: 473, 1952.
Bull G.M., Fraser R. Myxedema from resorcinol ointment applied to leg ulcers. Lancet 1: 851, 1950.
Doniach I., Fraser R. Effects of resorcinol in the thyroid uptake of 131I in rats. Lancet 1: 855, 1950.
Donish I., Logothetopoulos J. The goitrogenic action of resorcinol in rats. Br. J. Exp. Path. 34: 146, 1953.
Koehrle J., Auf’Mkolk M., Spank M., Sonyi G., Cody V., Hesch R.D. Flavonoids inhibit enzymic thyroid hormone deiodination. In: Farkas L., Gabor M., Kallay F. (Eds.), Flavonoids and Bioflavonoids, 1985. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1986, p. 411.
Sarkar J.M., Bollag J.M. Inhibitory effect of humic and fulvic acids on oxidoreductases as measured by the coupling of 2, 4-dichlorophenol to humic substances. Sci. Total. Environ. 62: 367, 1987.
Huang T.S., Lu F.J. Iodine binding by humic acid. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 10: 179, 1991.
Huang T.S., Lu F.J., Chopra I.J. Inhibition of hepatic thyroxine 5′-monodeiodinase by humic acids. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 12: 1267, 1993.
Schnitzer M.Y. Organic matter characterization. In: Farkas L., Gabor M., Kallay F. (Eds.), Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2-Chemical and Microbiological Properties. Academic Press, New York, 1982, p. 581.
Chopra I.J., Fisher D.A., Solomon D.H., Beall G.N. Thyroxine and triiodothyronine in the human thyroid. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 36: 311, 1973.
Riesco G., Taurog A., Larsen P.R., Krulick L. Acute and chronic responses to iodine deficiency in rats. Endocrinology 100: 303, 1977.
Auf’Mkolk M., Amir S.M., Kubota K., Ingbar S.H. The active principles of plant extracts with antithyrotropic activity: oxidation products of derivaties of 3,4-dihydroxycinnamic acid. Endocrinology 116: 1677, 1985.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huang, TS., Lu, FJ., Tsai, CW. et al. Effect of humic acids on thyroidal function. J Endocrinol Invest 17, 787–791 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03347776
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03347776