Abstract

Background: Herbal medicine is practiced throughout the world. Herbal medicine use is common among pregnant women because of a variety of pregnancy related ailments. Exposure of pregnant women to herbal substances may affect their fetus and contribute to maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. The leaves of Ocimum lamiifolium and Zehneria scabra are traditionally used in Ethiopia to treat pregnancy related ailments, but the safety of the plants during pregnancy is not scientifically studied. Evaluation of the teratogenic effect of medicinal plants is very important to identify teratogenic medicinal plants and to prevent their use during pregnancy.

Objective: To evaluate teratogenicity of the hydromethanol extracts of Ocimum lamiifolium and Zehneria scabra leaves in mice.

Methods: The leaves of Ocimum lamiifolium and Zehneria scabra were extracted with 80% methanol, and teratogenicity of the extracts was evaluated on mice based on the recommendations of OECD guideline. Data were analyzed by one way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s posthoc test using SPSS version 20 software.

Result: The administration of Ocimum lamiifolium methanolic extract caused insignificant changes in body weight and consumption of food and water in pregnant mice. Additionally, the plant did not affect the mean number of implantation, live and resorbed fetuses compared to the control group. Ocimum lamiifolium leaf extract treated group showed increased mean fetal body weight and crown-rump length compared to the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). There was no detected limb, craniofacial, skeletal, vertebral column and growth abnormality in Ocimum lamiifolium leaf extract treated group. Similarly, Zehneria scabra leaf extract administration did not cause notable changes in food and water intake and behavior during the pregnancy period. Moreover, treatment with Zehneria scabra did not increase the incidence of skeletal and external malformations.

Conclusion: The methanolic leaf extracts of Ocimum lamiifolium and Zehneria scabra didn’t show a statistically significant teratogenic effect on mice fetuses up to 800 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg dose, respectively.

Keywords: Ocimum lamiifolium; Zehneria scabra; Teratogenic Effect; Mice

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