Synergistic effects of high-dose soybean intake with iodine deficiency, but not sulfadimethoxine or phenobarbital, on rat thyroid proliferation.

The specificity and dose dependence of the synergistic effects of soybean intake with iodine deficiency on the induction of thyroid proliferation were investigated in female F344 rats. In the first experiment, rats were divided into 6 groups, each consisting of 5 animals, and fed a basal diet containing 20% gluten, an iodine-deficient basal diet alone or an iodine-deficient diet containing 0.2%, 1.0%, 5.0% or 25% defatted soybean for 5 weeks. Soybean feeding synergistically induced thyroid hyperplasias with iodine deficiency only at the 25% dose. In the second experiment, rats were also divided into 6 groups, each consisting of 5 animals, and fed a basal diet, a diet containing 20% defatted soybean, 0.025% sulfadimethoxine (SDM), 20% defatted soybean + 0.025% SDM, 0.05% phenobarbital (PB) or 20% defatted soybean + 0.05% PB for 5 weeks. The SDM treatments significantly (P < 0.05 - 0.01) increased the thyroid weights, but this increase rate was less prominent in the SDM + soybean group than in the SDM alone group. The PB treatment was also associated with a tendency for increase in thyroid weight, but again this was smaller in the PB + soybean group than in the PB alone group. Although the SDM or PB treatments reduced the serum triiodothyronine and thyroxine levels and consequently increased the serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, the soybean feeding did not affect or rather attenuated these changes. Our results clearly indicate that soybean feeding does not synergistically enhance the effects of SDM or PB on the rat thyroid. Thus it can be concluded that soybean intake specifically interacts with iodine deficiency in induction of thyroid proliferative lesions in rats, only at high doses.