title: Pregnancy outcomes, embryonic and fetal development in maternal exposure to Chinese medicines.
abstract: Chinese medicine is a common name for a collection of Chinese Materia Medica with therapeutic properties for medical treatment and healing. Similar to Western pharmaceuticals, Chinese medicines are not free of risk, and have the potential to cause adverse pregnancy outcomes and affect embryonic and fetal development. However, most clinical data concerning safety of maternal exposure to Chinese medicines during pregnancy are not available and the conclusion remains elusive. Some individual clinical trials of Chinese medicines reported some minor adverse effects during pregnancy, whereas few animal studies identified some adverse maternal and perinatal effects, as well as embryotoxic potentials. Basic research and mechanistic studies of the teratogenicity of Chinese medicines are still lacking. There is an urgent need for testing the safety of Chinese medicines before recommendation and commercialization. Until more reliable and scientific research data become available, clinicians should consider both the risks and benefits before recommending Chinese medicines to pregnant women. More systematic investigations of the safety implications of the use of Chinese medicines are highly recommended, in addition to more clinical trials with a larger sample size to confirm its safety during pregnancy. This review includes a critical overview of available clinical and experimental data and provides directions to study the safety issue of Chinese medicines for pregnancy.
authors: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong; Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong; School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
authors: Chi Chiu
authors: CC
authors: Wang
authors: Lu
authors: L
authors: Li
authors: Clara Bik
authors: CB
authors: San Lau
authors: Ping Chung
authors: PC
authors: Leung
authors: Kwok Pui
authors: KP
authors: Fung
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
keywords: development; embryotoxicity; herbal medicines; pregnancy