Effects of ethanolic extract of lawsonia inermis on pregnancy outcomes, fetal growth and the developing cerebral cortex of wistar rats

Abstract

Background: Henna is predominantly consumed in the northern part of Nigeria by males to enhance fertility whereas the female counterparts ingest it to terminate pregnancies.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the teratogenic potential of the ethanol leaf extract of Lawsonia inermis (Henna) on the fetal cerebral cortex and somatic indices like fetal weight with and without placenta, crown-rump length, placental weight, umbilical cord length and tail length of albino rats.

Materials and methods: Twenty adult female albino Wistar rats (150-200g) and eight adult male rats (190-220g) were purchased for this study. The female rats were divided into four groups labelled A-D. The experimental groups, B-D had maternal administration of the extract at 200, 400, and 600mg/kg body weight respectively. One-way ANOVA and Scheffes post-hoc test were used for data analysis and p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The mean number of fetuses across the treatment groups showed a significant difference from the low, medium to high dose groups respectively thus: 6.00±0.45, 3.60±0.87 and 3.00±0.32 when compared to the control group (6.40±0.75) at p<0.05. Thus, the number of fetuses decreased in a dose-dependent manner with the presence of resorption sites in the medium and high dose groups.

Conclusion: When the extract consumed is for abortifacient purposes and the dosage is not high enough for termination of the pregnancy, possible alterations may occur in the fetus, especially during the critical period of brain development. Therefore, henna has the potential to cause malformations in fetal cerebral cortex.