Acute effects of thymoquinone on the pregnant rat and embryo-fetal development

Abstract

The effect of a single intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of thymoquinone (TQ) on the pregnant rat and embryo-fetal development was investigated. Pregnant female Wistar rats received 15, 35, and 50 mg/kg body weight of TQ i.p. on day 11 or 14 of gestation, and on day 18 of gestation they were sacrificed and laparotomized. Results showed that TQ induces maternal and embryonic toxicities in a dose- and time-dependent manner. With a dose of 50 mg/kg, treated rats experienced a significant decrease in maternal body weight and complete fetal resorption when the dose was given on day 11 of gestation. On the other hand, 46.2% of implants were resorbed and the viable fetuses showed no TQ-related malformations when the dose was given on day 14 of gestation. At a lower TQ dose of 35 mg/kg, maternal and embryonic toxicities were observed only when it was given on day 11 of gestation. The dose of 15 mg/kg was considered to be a dose with no observed adverse effect level for maternal and embryo-fetal toxicities when it was given day 11 or 14 of gestation. Based on the results of this study, TQ, at doses of 50 and 35 mg/kg, has a potentially disruptive effect on embryonic development during the second trimester of rat pregnancy.

Keywords::

• Thymoquinone
• resorption
• pregnancy
• placental lactogen

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the help of Mrs. Sana Al-Ebbini in the statistical analysis and Mr. Salem Al-Shawabkeh in animal experiments. The authors also thank Dr. Nabeel Nuaimi (currently at the University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq) for advice and discussion.

Declaration of interest

The authors are grateful to the Applied Science University (Amman, Jordan) for the full financial support granted to this research project (grant no.: DRGS-2010-1; awarded to M.M.A.).