Pijusaballi Rasa (PJB) is an Ayurvedic preparation used as a traditional medicine in the treatment of constipation in the rural population in Bangladesh. In this study, the effect of PJB on thyroid hormone profile was evaluated after chronic administration of this drug to male Sprague-Dawley rats. The acute pharmacological test of PJB recorded no death or any signs of toxicity even at the highest dose of 4000 mg/kg body weight. For chronic pharmacological evaluation, the animals were divided into two groups. The first group was given PJB preparation at a dose of 400 mg/kg body weight for 28 days while the second group that served as the control received water for the same period. After 28 days of chronic administration of the PJB preparation, the following effects on the thyroid hormone panel were noted. There was a statistically insignificant (p = 0.523; 5.20%) decrease in the serum-circulating total thyroxine (tT4) level of the male rats. There was a statistically insignificant (p = 0.667; 3.35%) decrease in the serum-circulating total triiodothyronine (tT3) level of the male rats. There was a statistically insignificant (p = 0.551; 4.40%) decrease in the serum-circulating free thyroxine (fT4) level of the male rats. There was a statistically highly significant (p = 0.003; 16.36%) increase in the serum-circulating free triiodothyronine (fT3) level of the male rats. There was a statistically insignificant (p = 0.691; 51.03%) increase in the serum-circulating thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level of the male rats. Ratios of other hormone levels with respect to fT3 level showed a more deviating trend.
