Table 1.
List of publications applying herbs or herbal recipes to treat thyroid disease.
| Types | Herb/Herbal recipe | Active ingredient | Thyroid disorders | Finding | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herbs |
Launaea procumbens (L.) Amin (LP) |
70% Methanol extract (LPME) | Thyroid hormonal dysfunction | LPME can protect thyroid tissue against oxidative damage, possibly through the antioxidant effects of its bioactive compounds. | (Khan, 2017) |
| Curcuma longa L. | Curcumin | Thyroiditis | Regulation of inflammatory cytokines. | (Bright, 2007) | |
| Gamgung Tang (GGT) |
− | Thyroiditis | Down-regulation of T helper cell 1 cytokines and enhancement of T helper cell 2 cytokine production, playing an important role in the control of T-cell-mediated autoimmunity. | (Sa et al., 2007) | |
| Potentilla alba L. | − | Goiter with iodine and selenium deficiency | Application of Alba in patients showed reduced volume of thyroid, normalized function, reduced levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor. | (Kiseleva, Teplaia, & Kaminskii, 2012) (Kvacheniuk & Kvacheniuk, 2013, Turchaninova, 2014) | |
| Nigella Sativa L. Powder (NSP) | − | Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) | Patients received NSP showed improved thyroid status. | (Farhangi, Dehghan, Tajmiri, & Abbasi, 2016) | |
| Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer | Ginsenoside | HT | It can decrease peripheral blood IFN-γ levels, and reduce level of T-bet and increased GATA-3. | (Chen, Feng, & Huang, 2016) | |
| Lycopus europaeus L. | − | Mild hyperthyroidism | Mild symptomatic hyperthyroidism significantly improved. | (Eiling, Wieland, & Niestroj, 2013) | |
| Jia Jian Yu Nu Jian (JJYNJ) granules | − | Hyperthyroidism graves | Improving symptom effects, but not working through iodine blocking. | (Guo, Chen, & Li, 2009) | |
| Ahn Jeon Baek Ho Tang (AJBHT) | − | Hyperthyroidism graves | Suppressing T4 synthesis by modulating cAMP and Tg expression. | (Lee, Kang, Ahn, Doo, & Ahn, 2008) | |
| Astragali Radix (AR) | − | Hyperthyroidism graves | Significantly relieving the symptoms and regulating the immune function of patients with graves. | (Wu, Liu, & Chen, 2011) | |
| Anemarrhena Bunge | − | Hyperthyroidism Graves | No adverse effects and achieving euthyroidism, normalization of T3, T4 levels. | (Kim & Kim, 2018) | |
| Tetradium | Evodiamine | Thyroid cancer | Evodiamine status showed significant changes. | (Yu et al., 2018) | |
| Lithospermum erythrorhizon Sieb. et Zucc. | Shikonin | Thyroid cancer | Inhibition of cell migration and invasion by suppressing epithelial-mesenchymal transition and downregulating expression of Slug and MMP-2, MMP-9, and MMP-14. | (Yang, Ji, Guan, Shi, & Hou, 2013) | |
| Magnolia species | Honokiol | Thyroid cancer | Identified 178 proteins | (Chou et al., 2018) | |
| Peganum harmala L. | Harmine | Thyroid cancer | Inhibition of the growth of thyroid cancer. | (Ruan, Jia, & Li, 2017) | |
| L. erythrorhizon | Shikonin | Thyroid cancer | Suppressing the expression of DNMT1, reducing PTEN gene methylation, and increasing PTEN protein expression, leading to the inhibition of TPC-1 cell migration. | (Zhang, Sun, Huang, Zhao, & Zeng, 2018) | |
| P. vulgaris | P vulgaris | Rosmarinic acid | Autoimmune thyroiditis | Rosmarinic acid has effects of promoting splenic Tregs, IL-10, and TGF-β expression in rats with autoimmune thyroiditis. | (Qiu, Zhang, Guo, Zhang, & Zhong, 2020) |
| P. vulgaris | − | Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) | Low dose of P. vulgaris combined with prednisolone (PSL) showed effective and safe treatment effects. | (Li, Wu, Chen, Hu, & Liu, 2019)* | |
| Xiakucao Oral Liquid (XOL) | − | SAT | XOL combined with prednisone revealed very effective treatment effects. | (Wei, 2018)* | |
| XOL | − | SAT | Combination with Betamethasone showed improved clinical symptoms, reduced inflammatory response. | (Li, Wang, & Zhao, 2017)* | |
| Prunellae Oral Liquid (POL) | − | Goiter | Combined treatment using POL and thiamazole is superior to thiamazole alone. | (Yang, Guo, & Wu, 2007)* | |
| Xiakucao Capsule | − | HT | Combination with Euthyrox improved thyroid function of patients, reduced levels of thyroid antibodies. | (Fan, Zhang, & Mi, 2017)* | |
| Xiakucao granules | − | HT | Combined with Euthyrox showed significant good treatment effects. | (Shi & Zhang, 2017)* | |
| Xiakucao granules | − | Diffuse goiter with hyperthyroidism | Combined with Thiamazole Tablets showed good efficacy in treatment of hyperthyroidism with little adverse reaction. | (Yin, 2016)* | |
| Herbal recipes (containing P. vulgaris or not) | Jiayan Kangtai Granules (JYKT) | − | Thyroiditis | Regulating the Th17 cell/T-reg imbalance in AIT. | (Hou et al., 2018)# |
| Haizao Yuhu Decoction (HYD) | − | Hypothyroidism | Pharmacokinetic profile of different HYD prescriptions was obtained in hypothyroidism rat | (Ma et al., 2016)# | |
| Shuganjianpihuatanxingqi Decoction (SD) | − | Hypothyroidism | Improving symptoms and reducing TSH levels. | (Bai et al., 2018)# | |
| Yingliu Mixture (YL) |
− | Diffuse Goiter with Hyperthyroidism | YL-MMI combination can improve thyroid function, and decrease autoantibodies, cytokines, and clinical symptoms. | (Yang et al., 2017)* | |
| Yingliu Mixture (YL) |
− | Graves | Combination with MMI has improved treatment outcome of Graves. | (Yang et al., 2015)* | |
| Jiakangling Capsule (JC) | − | Hyperthyroidism graves | Achieving better treatment effect using the combination therapy. | (Liu & Liao, 2016)*# | |
| Xing Qi Hua Ying Tang (XQHYT) | − | Multinodular goiter or diffuse goiter | Reducing goiter size and alleviating symptoms. | (Yang & Lu, 2018)# | |
| JC | − | Graves' Disease (GD) | Reducing thyroid hormone levels of GD mice and lowering expression levels of mTOR. | (Li, Wei, Li, & Meng, 2015)# | |
| Fuzheng Fujia Mixture (FFM) | − | Hypothyroidism | Combined with Euthyrox reduced dose of thyroid hormone, and lowered the lipids levels in blood. | (Liu, Chen, & Zhai, 2012)* | |
| Kang Jia Wan (KJW) | − | Goiter | KJW markedly increased the caspase-3 and Fas protein expression than MMI. | (Han et al., 2009)* | |
| Hui Kang Ling (HKL) | − | Thyroid cancer | HKL inhibited peripheral blood micro-metastasis of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients. | (Liu, Wang, Tian, Wang, Dong, & Deng, 2015) | |
Note: Studies were grouped into three parts: herbs having no association with P. vulgaris, P. vulgaris, and herbal recipes. Studies which include the use of both herbs and western drugs to treat thyroid disease, are labelled with ‘*’at the end of the related references; Herbal recipes containing P. vulgaris are labelled with ‘#’.