Effects of dietary Thymus vulgaris extract alone or with atorvastatin on the liver, kidney, heart, and brain histopathological features in diabetic and hyperlipidemic male rats

Thymus vulgaris (thyme) is commonly used in folk medicine for several therapeutic purposes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the histopathological changes in the four vital organs, liver, kidney, heart, and brain, of diabetic and hyperlipidemic male rats after consumption of different doses of hydroalcoholic extract of thyme alone or in 11 combinations with atorvastatin. In a double-blind animal-based controlled randomized clinical trial, 90 male rats were randomly allocated into nine equal independent groups, according to consumption of atorvastatine and/or T. vulgaris extract, and the histopathological changes of vital organs of diabetic and hyperlipidemic male rats in response to T. vulgaris extract were evaluated. Our results indicated that in diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia, the liver and brain were observed to have more histopathological lesions than the kidney and heart. Also, after using atorvastatin, the frequency of brain histopathological lesions was decreased. In treatment groups, by increasing the dose of thyme extract, the hepatic histopathological lesions were disappeared and a decline in brain histopathological lesions was seen. It is found that atorvastatine can decrease the histopathological lesions especially in liver, if used alone or in combination with T. vulgaris extract.