Evaluation Of The Effect Of Prunella Vulgaris On Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis By Two-dimensional Ultrasound And Real-time Shear Wave Elastography Parameters

Objective:Hashimoto thyroiditis(HT)is a chronic autoimmune thyroid disease.There was no radical cure.Prunella vulgaris is a common clinical Chinese medicine with the effects of dissipating mass,relieving inflammation and subduing swelling and detoxicate.In this study,Prunella vulgaris oral solution was used to treat HT patients with normal thyroid function and to explore the effects of Prunella vulgaris oral solution on two-dimensional ultrasound and shear wave elastography(SWE)imaging parameters of HT patients.Methods:Fifty-two HT patients with normal thyroid function were collected and randomly divided into Prunella vulgaris oral liquid group and placebo control group,taking Prunella vulgaris oral liquid and placebo for three months respectively.Before and after treatment,the size of left and right thyroid lobes,isthmus thickness,Young’s modulus of glands(Emax、Emin、Emean),Thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH),Thyroid peroxidase-autoantibody(TPO-Ab)and Thyroglobulin-autoantibody(TG-Ab)were measured to observe the changes of thyroid morphology and gland hardness between two groups before and after treatment.Results:(1)There were no statistical differences in the size of left and right thyroid lobes and the changes of gland Young’s modulus values Emax、Emin、Emean between the experimental group and the control group after medication(P>0.05).(2)The proportion of decreased cases of isthmus thickness in the experimental group was significantly increasd than that in the control group after medication(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in the proportions of decreased cases of left and right lobe sizes of thyroid as well as Young’s modulus values of Emax、Emin、Emean between the experimental group and the control group after medication(P>0.05).There was no statistical difference after stratification by TPO-Ab(P>0.05).(3)Compared with those before treatment,there were no significant differences in the size of the left and right thyroid lobes,the thickness of the isthmus,and the Young’s modulus values of Emax,Emin,and Emean between two groups(P>0.05).Stratification analysis based on TPO-Ab titers revealed that the isthmus thickness of low titer TPO-Ab(L-TPOAb)experimental group was decreased after dosing compared with that before dosing(P<0.05),but high titer TPO-Ab(H-TPOAb)did not show such changes.Conclusions:For HT patients with normal thyroid function,after continuously three months treatment of prunella vulgaris oral liquid,the ratio of thyroid isthmus thickness reduction in the experimental group was significantly higher after treatment.In that L-TPOAb group,thickness of isthmus showed gradualy thinner.There were no significant changes in the size of the left and right thyroid lobes or in the gland Young’s modulus values Emax、Emin、Emean after three months of treatment.