Effects of <b><i>Bryophyllum pinnatum</i></b> Administration on Wistar Rat Pregnancy: Biochemical and Histological Aspects

Abstract

&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Introduction:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; &lt;i&gt;Bryophyllum pinnatum&lt;/i&gt; is widely used in folk medicine. It has neuropharmacological, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, and nephroprotective effects, among others. It also acts on uterine contractility. It is prescribed by practitioners of anthroposophic medicine for preterm labor, insomnia, and emotional disorders, and has other potential uses in obstetrics. As all drugs currently used in preterm labor have side effects, new tocolytic agents remain an area of active research. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Objective:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; To evaluate the effect of &lt;i&gt;B. pinnatum&lt;/i&gt; mother tincture (MT) on albino rats and their offspring throughout pregnancy from a biochemical and histological standpoint. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Longitudinal, prospective, randomized controlled bioassay. This is the second stage of a trial that investigated 60 animals distributed across six equal groups: controls C1 and C2, which received 1 and 25 times the vehicle dose (30% ethanol), B1 and B2 (1- and 25-fold doses of &lt;i&gt;B. pinnatum&lt;/i&gt; MT), and B3 and B4 (which received 50- and 100-fold doses of &lt;i&gt;B. pinnatum&lt;/i&gt; concentrate). At this stage, blood chemistry parameters (glucose, alanine aminotransferase [ALT], aspartate aminotransferase [AST], creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen) were measured in dams, as well as histological aspects of dam liver, kidney, placenta, and uterine tissue and fetal liver, kidney, heart, and brain. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Results:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; No differences were found between group B1 (therapeutic dose) and its control C1 in relation to glucose, AST, ALT, and creatinine. Group B2 exhibited lower glucose levels than groups C1, B3, and B4. There was no difference in AST across groups. Groups B3 and B4 exhibited higher ALT levels than groups C1 and B1. Groups B1–B4 exhibited higher urea nitrogen levels than group C1. Creatinine levels were higher in groups B2 and B3 than group C1. On morphological evaluation, fatty infiltration of the liver was observed in the alcoholic vehicle control groups (C1 and C2). &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Daily administration of &lt;i&gt;B. pinnatum&lt;/i&gt; at therapeutic doses (group B1) to pregnant albino rats appears to be safe, with reduced glucose at dose B2, elevated ALT at doses B3 and B4, and increased urea at doses B1 to B4 and creatinine at B2 and B3, but never exceeding the normal reference range. It was not associated with histological changes in specimens of the maternal or fetal structures of interest.

Repurposing of Bryophyllum pinnatum for dysmenorrhea treatment: a systematic scoping review and case series

“…In an in vivo study, the treatment of mice at supratherapeutic levels did not show any effect on liver enzymes, urea nitrogen, or alkaline phosphatase (Torres- Santos et al, 2003;Hosomi et al, 2022). Also the treatment of pregnant wistar rats with B. pinnatum showed no toxicity at therapeutic levels and merely reduced glucose levels (Hosomi et al, 2022). All clinical studies performed so far showed that treatment with B. pinnatum preparations can be considered as safe and well-tolerated, without severe adverse events and only occasional adverse events that included stomachache, diarrhea, and exanthema (Betschart et al, 2013;Simões-Wüst et al, 2018;Mirzayeva et al, 2023).…”

“…Additionally, toxic effects were found in myometrial cell lines only when very high doses of press juice or fractions enriched with bufadienolides and flavonoids were used (Santos et al, 2018;Santos et al, 2019). In an in vivo study, the treatment of mice at supratherapeutic levels did not show any effect on liver enzymes, urea nitrogen, or alkaline phosphatase (Torres- Santos et al, 2003;Hosomi et al, 2022). Also the treatment of pregnant wistar rats with B. pinnatum showed no toxicity at therapeutic levels and merely reduced glucose levels (Hosomi et al, 2022).…”

Bioactive Compounds from Kalanchoe Genus Potentially Useful for the Development of New Drugs

“…Recently, this practice has also been adopted in perinatal centers in Switzerland [ 6 , 111 , 112 , 113 ], which is important, because new tocolytic agents without side effects are strongly needed. For this reason, we can observe significant advances in preclinical and clinical studies of K. pinnata extract regarding its tocolytic effect [ 35 , 114 , 115 , 116 ]. In vitro studies have shown that flavonoids and especially bufadienolides are implicated in the tocolytic effect of K. pinnata , as mentioned in Section 2.1 [ 34 , 35 ].…”