Protective Effects of Myo-Inositol and Selenium on Cadmium-Induced Thyroid Toxicity in Mice

Cadmium (Cd) damages the thyroid gland. We evaluated the effects of myo-inositol (MI), seleno-L-methionine (Se) or their combination on the thyroids of mice simultaneously administered with Cd chloride (CdCl2). Eighty-four male mice were divided into 12 groups (seven mice each). Six groups (controls) were treated with 0.9% NaCl (vehicle), Se (0.2 mg/kg/day), Se (0.4 mg/kg/day), MI (360 mg/kg/day), MI+Se (0.2 mg/kg) and MI+Se (0.4 mg/kg). The other six groups were treated with CdCl2 (2 mg/kg), CdCl2+MI, CdCl2+Se (0.2 mg/kg), CdCl2+Se (0.4 mg/kg), CdCl2+MI+Se (0.2 mg/kg) and CdCl2+MI+Se (0.4 mg/kg). An additional group of CdCl2-challenged animals (n = 7) was treated with resveratrol (20 mg/kg), an effective and potent antioxidant. All treatments lasted 14 days. After sacrifice, the thyroids were evaluated histologically and immunohistochemically. CdCl2 reduced the follicular area, increased the epithelial height, stroma, and cells expressing monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and C-X-C motif chemokine 10 (CXCL10). CdCl2+Se at 0.2/0.4 mg/kg insignificantly reversed the follicular and stromal structure, and significantly decreased the number of MCP-1 and CXCL10-positive cells. CdCl2+MI significantly reversed the thyroid structure and further decreased the number of MCP-1 and CXCL10-positive cells. CdCl2+MI+Se, at both doses, brought all indices to those of CdCl2-untreated mice. MI, particularly in association with Se, defends mice from Cd-induced damage. The efficacy of this combination was greater than that of resveratrol, at least when using the follicular structure as a read-out for a comparison. We suggest that the use of these nutraceuticals, more specifically the combination of MI plus SE, can protect the thyroid of Cd-exposed subjects.