Assessment of Larval Toxicity and the Teratogenic Effect of Three Medicinal Plants Used in the Traditional Treatment of Urinary Tract Infections in Benin.

OBJECTIVE: Mangifera indica Linn, Bridelia ferruginea Benth, and Alstonia boonei De Wild are three plants commonly used in the traditional treatment of urinary tract infections in Benin. This study sets out to assess the cytotoxic and teratogenic effects of extracts of these plants on Artemia salina larvae and hen embryos. METHODS AND RESULTS: The aqueous and ethanolic extracts were obtained by maceration of the powders in solvents. Larval cytotoxicity was performed on Artemia salina larvae. The teratogenic effect of these plants was evaluated on chick embryos at 100 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg. The extracts were injected on the 7th and 14th days of incubation. The quality of the hatched chicks was evaluated by the Tona score followed by the hematological and the biochemical parameter assays. The extracts did not show cytotoxicity on the larvae. The eggs treated with plant extracts at 300 mg/kg significantly lowered the hatchability rate, except for the Mangifera indica Linn. The chicks obtained were all at the very good quality. Then, no significant variation was observed between hematological parameters except white blood cells. For the biochemical parameters, only ASAT showed some significant variations for a few extracts. It would be important to assess the genotoxicity of the plant extracts to determine more broader toxicity. These data justify the use of these medicinal plants in traditional Beninese medicine and constitute in fact a source of production of anti-infectious drugs.

Histological and Histochemical Profile for Teratological Assessment in Mus musculus.

Histological analysis of mouse embryos, fetuses, or newborns remains one the most common methods and in some cases the "gold standard" used in teratology studies to detect abnormal morphogenesis during development. Histochemistry methods are based on the selectivity of certain chemical compounds for certain cellular or tissue components, several of them related to specific maturation processes. In this chapter, specific histochemistry techniques that allow for the monitoring of critical stages of tissue and organ formation, such as skeleton and muscle differentiation, neuronal maturation, neuronal connectivity, and neurodevelopment after teratogenic exposure are described in detail.