Abstract
Most plants culturally used in Brazil for medicine do not have pre-clinical studies of reproductive toxicity, therefore risks of using such products on the reproductive system are unknown. The aim of the study was to evaluate possible reproductive toxicity of ethanolic extract of Combretum leprosum Mart and Eicher (EECL) in female Wistar rats. The animals, weighing between 180 to 250 g, were maintained in controlled environmental conditions of temperature, humidity, light/dark cycle of 12/12 h, water ad libitum and fed with commercial diet for rats. To verify the estrogenic activity of EECL, four groups of ovariectomized rats were used: saline + corn oil; saline + estradiol; EECL (500 mg/kg) + corn oil; EECL (500 mg/kg) + estradiol. To study the reproductive toxicity during the fecundation and implantation phases of the embryos and also during the organogenesis phase, two groups were used for each experiment, saline and EECL (500 mg/Kg). No estrogenic or anti-estrogenic activities were observed in the EECL. The ingestion of EECL did not cause modification in the number of implantation sites, which indicates a lack of toxicity during this phase. The EECL administered orally in the dose of 500 mg/kg did not produce adverse effects on the reproductive system of the female rats. Keywords : Estrogenic activity, organogenesis, teratogens African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(16), pp. 2105-2109
Highlights
Many drugs or chemical products that can cause congenital malformations are called teratogens
Since the C. leprosum presents therapeutic potentials and there is no data related to the reproductive toxicity of this plant in the literature, the goal of this research was to evaluate the effects of an ethanolic extract of C. leprosum on estrogenic activity and reproductive toxicity during the fecundation, implantation and organogenesis phases of the embryo
Ethanolic extract of C. leprosum (EECL) treated animals showed no change in uterine weight when compared to the saline group rats (Figure 1)
Summary
Many drugs or chemical products that can cause congenital malformations are called teratogens. Some may cause severe morphological alterations if administered during the organogenic period; others may produce mental and growth retardations as well as minor malformations when used in excess during development (Moore, 1990; Seip, 2008). Montanari and Bevilacqua (2002) observed estrogenic activity and loss of embryos during the pre-implantation period in female murine treated with an extract of Maytenus ilicifolia Mart. Fetal reabsorption and an anti-implantation activity without an estrogenic activity in rats treated with extract of Coutarea hexandra Schum (Rao et al, 1988; Almeida et al, 1990) have been observed. Peumus boldus and the isolated substance boldina caused significant number of reabsorptions and some malformations when administered to pregnant rats (Almeida et al, 2000).
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