Luffa acutangula Roxb. Tea Promotes Developmental Toxicity to Rats

The tea made from Luffa acutangula fruits has been largely used by women for abortion induction and abortions occurred in ruminants that had ingested the fruits. The research aimed to study the abortive effect of L. acutangula tea in rats. Eleven pregnant Wistar female rats were used. On the 15th gestational day, six rats were dosed with 10 mL kg-1 of L. acutangula tea (50 g of dried fruit in 100 mL of water) and the other five rats were dosed with saline solution. On the 21st gestational day, all the rats were submitted to cesarean section. There was no difference between the two groups on body weight and body weight gain and no sign of maternal toxicity was observed in females throughout the experiment. The number of points of implantation, live and dead fetuses, corpora lutea and points of reabsorption did not differ between groups but it was found reduced fetal weight in the group treated with L. acutangula. The search for external malformations revealed a fetus with cleft palate from a plant-treated mother. No lesion was found at histological evaluation of placentas. In conclusion, the ingestion of L. acutangula during pregnancy may promote developmental toxicity.