Teratogenic Effect of Guava (Psidium guajava L.) Leaf Extract on Mice

Abstract

Psidium guajava leaves have been used traditionally to treat many diseases, but herbal extracts have been associated with adverse effects, bleeding, abortifacient, and sometimes teratogenic effects. This study investigated the fetal abnormalities (bleeding, morphological changes, live births, deaths, etc.) associated with P. guajava leaf extracts in pregnant Balb/c mice. Dried powdered leaves of the P. guajava were macerated with ethanol to obtain crude extract. Twenty female mice aged 10 weeks in fertile condition weighing 25-30 g were recruited for this study. The animals were divided into 4 groups of 5 animals each (The control group (K) and three other groups were given Psidium guajava leaf extract at doses of 100 mg/kg body weight (D1), 200 mg/kg body weight (D2), and 400 mg/kg body weight (D3). After the treatment with the extract in experimental mice, fetal weight from the control group had an average weight of 1.4 g, while the average body weight of the treatment group decreased significantly where D1 was 0.84 g, D2 and D3 were 0.80 g and 0.78 g respectively. Fetal length is also in line with fetal weight. At dose (D2), namely a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight causes hemorrhage in the tail and hind limbs of mice fetuses, while morphological defects were found in 1 fetus in the form of skin becoming thin like transparent. The study concludes that Psidium guajava leaf extract may have teratogenic effects, cause