Summary:Increased gestational weight gain is associated with higher rates of complications of pregnancy and delivery. Gestational weight gain of 9-12 Kg has been associated with the best outcome for both mothers and infants. However, weight gain in most pregnant women is not within this range, perhaps due to the difficulty of calculating the exact quantity, timing and duration of dietary restriction in individual patients that would bring their weight gain within the normal range. There is therefore a need to develop a drug or food supplement that would reduce weight gain without causing adverse effects on the fetus. Aframomum melegueta is widely used in Nigeria by most people including pregnant women for various purposes. It is against this background that the present investigation examines the possibility of its beneficial effects on pregnancy, using Sprague Dawley rat as the animal model. Twenty female and ten male Sprague-Dawley rats of proven fertility from a pilot study were randomly mated in groups of two females and one male. Three days later, female rats in the experimental groups were given intra-peritoneal injections of 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 1.5 mg and 2 mg of aqueous extract of alligator pepper respectively while the control had 2 ml of distilled water.. All rats were observed for 18-25 days. There was a significant (P<0.05) reduction in gestational weight gain of the experimental rats. The litters were not adversely affected. It is suggested that the active component of aqueous extract of alligator pepper be determined because of its beneficial effect of gestational weight gain reduction.

Summary: Alligator pepper (Aframomum melegueta) is a spice that is widely used in many cultures for entertainment, religious rites, food flavor and as a part of many traditional doctors medications. Pregnant women are among those who ingest Alligator pepper in these activities. This experiment was carried out to determine the health risk or benefit of Alligator pepper to pregnant women if any. Fifteen male rats and fifteen female rats of proven fertility from a pilot study were randomly paired in fifteen cages in a well ventillated room. After three days of mating, the males were withdrawn from the females, which were allowed to stay in their separate maternity cages for 18-25 days. The females in the control group were fed with normal rat chow and clean drinking water ad libitum for the duration of the experiment. Each of the rats in the experimental group was served 20 g of rat chow mixed with 50mg of Alligator pepper for one day only and thereafter fed with normal rat chow and clean drinking water ad libitum for 18-25 days. The rats in the control group had a mean of 7 litters each, while the rats in the experimental group did not litter at all. It was concluded that ingestion of large quantities of Alligator pepper poses a health risk to women in their first trimester of pregnancy.

Introduction: Aqueous extract of Alligator pepper is known to reduce gestational weight gain and litter size in Sprague Dawley rats. This study was done to determine the underlying hormonal and cellular mechanisms of action.Methods: We performed a controlled cross sectional intervention study with 45 female Sprague Dawley rats, which after acclimatization for two weeks, were allowed to mate with male rats for three days. Thereafter, these female rats were randomly allocated into three groups A, B and C with 15 female rats in each group. These three major groups were further randomly allocated into three subgroups so that each subgroup had 5 female rats. Pregnant female rats in Group A were injected with 2ml of normal saline intraperitoneally on day 4. Pregnant female rats in groups B and C were injected intraperitoneally with 6.7mg/Kg body weight and 13.3mg/ kg body weight of saline extract of Alligator Pepper respectively on day 4. Glucose levels were estimated with glucometer on days 7, 14, and 21. Blood was collected by intra-ventricular puncture and assayed for insulin levels. Observed differences between control and experimental groups were subjected to tests of significance.Results: Alligator pepper treated pregnant rats had significantly higher serum glucose levels than control group. Low dose and high dose Alligator pepper depressed serum insulin levels in the experimental group on day 7 and days 7 and 14 respectively Conclusion: Intraperitoneal injection of saline extract of Alligator pepper prevents first and second trimester hyperinsulinemia in pregnant Sprague Dawley rats.

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Preeclampsia is a clinical syndrome defined as the new onset of hypertension and proteinuria during the second half of pregnancy. Though it is easily diagnosed clinically, affected persons must book in a health service facility for the diagnosis to be made. Furthermore regular screening is necessary during several antenatal visits and skilled attendant's supervised labor before diagnosis can be made. Predictive tests are not yet well developed and not readily available in developing countries and medically underserved areas where they are needed most. There is therefore a need for specific protection against preeclampsia to be developed. This will ensure that all women are protected even when they choose not to visit an antenatal clinic. Specific protection is potentially capable of preventing preeclampsia in 5 % to 7% of pregnant women, the proportion of pregnant women that are affected by preeclampsia worldwide. This article builds on a previous article on the study of the cellular mechanisms underlying gestational weight gain and litter weight reduction effect of aqueous extract of Alligator pepper and attempts to analyze how the anti-hyperinsulinemic property of the constituents of Alligator pepper in that study can also prevent preeclampsia and suggests the use of some of the constituents of alligator pepper as specific protection (vaccine) for the prevention of preeclampsia.