Experimental in vivo and in vitro studies of medicinal plants in embryotoxicity and teratogenicity processes

Abstract

This work aims to contribute to the compilation of scientific articles on medicinal plants that have embryotoxic and teratogenic effects proven through experimental tests in vivo and in vitro. A survey was carried out in the Medline, Pubmed, Web of Science, Cochrane, Virtual Health Library, Lilacs and Scielo databases with the descriptors, “Medicinal plants, embryotoxicity”; “Medicinal plants, Teratogenic effects”; “Medicinal plants, teratogenicity” and their Portuguese counterparts: “Medicinal plants, embryotoxicity”; “Medicinal plants, Teratogenic effects”; "Medicinal Plants Teratogenicity". Eight articles from in vivo tests and four from in vitro and one that presents both tests, met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were selected for this review. Of these, five took place in America, one in Europe, three in Africa and two in Asia. In most studies in vivo, the plant extract was injected into the animal, thus observing its effects. From this study, it was found that plants can have some type of effect on the embryonic process, therefore, consumption during pregnancy should be evaluated by a professional in the field.

Keywords: Gestation. Medicinal plant. Embryotoxicity. Teratogenic.