Effects on reproduction in female offspring from Sprague-Dawley rats fed 10% snakeweed (Gutierrezia microcephala) throughout pregnancy and concurrent treatment with safflower oil.
Previous studies determined that safflower oil administration provided protection against the embryotoxicity seen following ingestion of 10% snakeweed (Gutierrezia microcephala) throughout pregnancy. Sixty-two young primiparous female rats born in those studies were paired with adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. After 4 d they were removed and carried their litters to term. Observations were made of the presence and extent of reproductive effects attributable to the 10% snakeweed exposure and differences in fecundity that were attributable to dosing with safflower oil or normal saline during the snakeweed exposure. Of the 62 rats, 50 carried litters to term and approximated the reproductive efficiency of normal primiparous Sprague-Dawley rats. There was no significant difference between the fecundity of females born to rats fed the 10% snakeweed and dosed with safflower oil, those born of rats fed snakeweed dosed with normal saline, or those fed a snakeweed-free diet and dosed with normal saline. Regardless of the diet or treatment administered, dams carrying their litters to parturition gave birth to healthy, normo-reproductive offspring. While the toxic principles in Gutierrezia species plants may act as estrogenic or anti-estrogenic compounds, they did not impair fertility in the female offspring of dosed rats.
Staley
E C
EC
Veterinary Medical Clinic, Alamogordo, NM 88310, USA.
Smith
G S
GS
Greenberg
J A
JA
D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000187:drug effects; D008098:Litter Size / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D010939:Plant Poisoning / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012450:Safflower Oil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*
D012450:Safflower Oil