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In Mexico, the use of medicinal plants is the first alternative to treat the diseases of the most economically vulnerable population. Therefore, this review offers a list of Mexican plants (native and introduced) with teratogenic effects and describes their main alterations, teratogenic compounds, and the models and doses used. Our results identified 63 species with teratogenic effects (19 native) and the main alterations that were found in the nervous system and axial skeleton, induced by compounds such as alkaloids, terpenes, and flavonoids. Additionally, a group of hallucinogenic plants rich in alkaloids employed by indigenous groups without teratogenic studies were identified. Our conclusion shows that several of the identified species are employed in Mexican traditional medicine and that the teratogenic species most distributed in Mexico are Astragalus mollissimus, Astragalus lentiginosus, and Lupinus formosus. Considering the total number of plants in Mexico (≈29,000 total vascular plants), to date, existing research in the area shows that Mexican plants with teratogenic effects represent ≈0.22% of the total species of these in the country. This indicates a clear need to intensify the evaluation of the teratogenic effect of Mexican plants.

Arthrospira (Spirulina) maxima (SM) is a cyanobacterium that has a long history of being used as human food. In recent years, several investigations have shown its beneficial biological effects, among which its antioxidant capacity has been highlighted. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of SM on body weight, glycemia, sexual behavior, sperm quality, testosterone levels, sex organ weights, and the activity of antioxidant enzymes in diabetic male rats (a disease characterized by an increase in reactive oxygen species). The experiment consisted of six groups of sexually expert adult males (n = 6): (1) control (vehicle); (2) streptozotocin (STZ)-65 mg/kg; (3) SM-400 mg/kg; (4) STZ + SM-100 mg/kg; (5) STZ + SM-200 mg/kg; and (6) STZ + SM-400 mg/kg. Sexual behavior tests were performed during the first 3 h of the dark period under dim red illumination. Our results showed that SM significantly improved sexual behavior and sperm quality vs. diabetic animals. Likewise, while the enzymatic activities of SOD and GPx increased, TBARS lipoperoxidation decreased and testosterone levels increased. In view of the findings, it is suggested that SM may potentially be used as a nutraceutical for the treatment of diabetic male sexual dysfunction due to its antioxidant property.

Gastric ulcers (GU) constitute a disease with a global prevalence ≈8.09 million. Of their causes, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as indomethacin (IND) rank as the second most frequent etiologic agent. The pathogenic process of gastric lesions is given by the overproduction of oxidative stress, promotion of inflammatory processes, and inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis. Spirulina Arthrospira maxima (SP) is a cyanobacterium with a wide variety of substances with high nutritional and health values such as phycobiliproteins (PBPs) that have outstanding antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatories effects, and accelerate the wound healing process. This study aimed to determine the protective effect of PBPs in GU induced by IND 40 mg/kg. Our results show that the PBPs protected against IND-induced damage with a dose-dependent effect. At a dose of 400 mg/kg, a marked decrease in the number of lesions is observed, as well as the recovery of the main markers of oxidative stress damage (MDA) and antioxidant species (SOD, CAT, GPx) at close to baseline levels. The evidence derived from the present investigation suggests that the antioxidant effect of PBPs, together with their reported anti-inflammatory effects to accelerate the wound healing process, is the most reliable cause of their antiulcerogenic activity in this GU model.