Thyroid hormones regulate lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities in Anabas testudineus (Bloch).

The role of thyroid hormones in metabolic pathways are well known. However, their involvement in lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities is not known. In this study, the in vivo injection of 6-propylthiouracil (6-PTU) did not alter the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and conjugated dienes in liver. The administration of triiodothyronine (T3) or diiodothyronine (T2) increased the peroxidation rate in hypothyroid fish. However, in normal fish, only a high dose of T2 caused increased malondialdehyde (MDA) production, rather than T3. SOD activity was higher in T2-treated groups in both experiments. Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity was also high in hypothyroid fish treated with T2. In normal specimens, injections of T3 and T2 had no effect on GPx activity. Glutathione reductase (GR) activity was not altered by hypothyroidism while T3 (1 microg) and T2 (1 microg) increased it. Glutathione content was low in 6-PTU treated fish and high in both T3- and T2-treated groups. Thus it can be concluded that not only T3 but also T2, formed by sequential monodeiodination of T4, is also effective in influencing lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities in Anabas. Furthermore, hypothyroidism as well as hyperthyroidism affects lipid peroxidation in this teleost.