Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To study the teratogenicity of the natural effective component piperlonguminine Piper longum L. on normal Wistar pregnant rats. METHODS: Rats were randomly divided into 5 group. Stomach of the Wistar rat was irrigated with different doses of piperlonguminine suspension， high dosage 500 mg/kg， medium dosage 100 mg/kg， low dosage 20 mg/kg on the 6th to the 15th day during the gestation period. Stomach of the negative group was irrigated with the same volume CMC-Na solution. For the positive group，intraperitoneal cyclophosphamide 10 mg/kg was administered on the 11th day of gestation. Weights on the 0，3rd，7th，10th， 13th，16th，20th days were recorded. All were killed on the 20th day of gestation. The situation of the pregnancy， appearance of internal organs and bone morphology were examined. RESULTS: Compared to each dose group and negative group，the appearance and weight gain of pregnant rats， the appearance of the fetus， growth indicators and the degree of ossification of the occipital bone， parietal bone， sternum， ribs and other bones ; and the appearance of the liver， kidney， testis or uterus and other organs revealed no significant difference (P>0.05). During the experiment，2 fetuses were absorbed in the high dose group，but was insignificant when compared with the negative group (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The lipid-lowering active ingredients of Mongolian drug piperlonguminine，under our experimental dose range， did not demonstrated obvious toxicity in pregnant mice and fetuses .

Key words: mongolian drug, Piper longum L., piperlonguminine, teratogenicity