Developmental toxicity of orally administered pineapple leaf extract in rats

The extract of pineapple leaves (EPL) has anti-diabetic and anti-dyslipidemic effects and can be developed into a promising natural medicine. This study was conducted to evaluate EPL's effects on developmental parameters in order to provide evidence of its safety before potential medical use. Five groups were included: a negative control that was given distilled water daily, a positive control that was dosed 7 mg/kg cyclophosphamide (CP) every two days, and three groups that were respectively dosed 2.0, 1.0, and 0.5 g/kg EPL daily. Female rats were dosed during the organogenesis period of gestation days (GD) 7-17 and terminated on GD 20. A series of parameters were examined. Data revealed that CP significantly reduced maternal body weight gains, caused maternal organ weight alterations, reduced female fertility, disturbed fetal growth and development, and caused marked teratogenic effects on fetal appearances, skeleton and internal organs. Distilled water and the three high doses of EPL did not cause any of the aforementioned effects. This study concluded that orally administered EPL is safe to rats during embryonic development.