Intra uterine growth retardation in rats treated with essential oil of rosmarinus officinalis linn

The essential oil of Rosmarinus officinalis L. (EORO) is used in cosmetics, in the food industry and in medicines, presenting antimicrobial and antifungal activity. Aim of the study: to observe maternal toxicity and embryo development after treatment of dams with EORO. Inseminated rats were distributed in four groups (n =15): Control (C) (saline 0.5ml) and treated with 242 (T1), 484 (T2) and 968mg/Kg (T3) of EORO, from the fifth to the seventh dpc and sacrificed on the 15th dpc. Variables analyzed: maternal behavior, body weight gain, food consumption, kidneys, liver and ovaries weight, hemogram, number of corpora lutea, implants, live, dead, malformed fetuses and placenta and fetuses weight. Statistics: Dunnett and Chi-square tests (α=0.05). The EORO higher dose reduced (p<0.05) maternal number of erythrocytes; the haematocrit, hemoglobin concentration and the fetuses body weight. Conclusions: Highest dose of EORO reduce the fetuse´s body weight and induced anemia in the dams.

Toxicological screening of Euphorbia tirucalli L.: developmental toxicity studies in rats.

Euphorbia tirucalli (Euphorbiaceae family), an environmental risk factor for Burkitt's lymphoma, also presents pharmacological activities. In the northeast region of Brazil its latex is used as an antimicrobial, antiparasitic in the treatment of coughs, rheumatism, cancer and other maladies as folk remedy. The present work concerns its developmental toxicity in rats. Wistar rats on the first day post-coitum (dpc) were grouped as control (distilled water) and treated (latex aqueous solution) groups. Animals were treated by oral gavage from the 1st to the 4th (Experiment I) and from the 5th to 7th dpc (Experiment II) and killed on the 5th or 14th dpc, respectively. Maternal variables were: clinical signs of toxicity, body weight, ovaries, liver and kidneys weight and number of corpora lutea. The uterine tubes and cornua were washed for counting and identification of embryos. The embryos and placenta were weighed. Apart from the leucopenia and the higher placental weight observed in treated rats from Experiment II, there were no significant differences between the groups. It is possible to conclude that the latex aqueous solution of Euphorbia tirucalli did not interfere with tubaric embryo development or with implantation, but it seems to alter the placenta morphology.