Early development of the rat embryo in mothers treated with Solanum lycocarpum St. Hill.

Abstract

The lobeira fruit (Solanum lycocarpum, St. Hil- Solanaceae) is under current use by diabetic patients in Minas Gerais state (Brazil) as a hypoglycemic agent. It contains an alkaloid with stereospecific configuration for the synthesis of steroid hormones and solamargine and solasonine from which a 3β-acetoxipregna-5,16-dien-20-one is obtained. As a hypoglycemic agent or as a potential source of steroid hormone, lobeira powder can alter embryo transport through the oviduct or the nutritional requirement for their survival since each phase of development needs specific nutritional requirements, and a hypoglycemic agent has the potential capacity to change the biochemical constitution of the oviduct secretions. To examine this hypothesis, inseminated rats received an aquaous suspension of 100 mg of the lobeira powder /Kg of body weight, by oral gavage, on days 1, 2, 3, and 4 of pregnancy. A control group received 5 ml of distilled water/ Kg of body weight. In the same schedule Pregnant rats were weighed at the beginning of treatment and on sacrifice day (on 5^th day of pregnancy), and were examined daily by clinic criteria to evaluate toxicity of the treatment. The oviducts and uterine horns were removed and flushed with a saline solution buffer for counting the pre-embryos. The aqueous suspension of lobeira did not cause maternal toxicity, alteration of the pre-embryo transport, reduction of the number of expanded blastocysts, or increase of the number of degenerated pre-embryos. Considering the results it was concluded that the lobeira powder in lhe dose used is not toxic to mothers or to pre-embryos.