Effects of prenatal ginger rhizome extract treatment on pregnancy outcome and postnatal development of Sprague Dawley rats

The effect of prenatal exposure to ginger on pregnancy outcome and postnatal development of Sprague Dawley rats was studied. Pregnant rats were administered with dry powder extracts of ginger orally at doses of 500 or 1000 mg/kg/day from gestation day 5 to 15. The daily food and water intake was significantly reduced during the exposure period in both groups of ginger fed rats. The weight gain during the exposure period and the total weight gain in pregnancy were also significantly low in both groups of ginger fed rats compared to the control. There was a significant embryonic loss in ginger fed rats. The growth and physical maturation parameters of the offspring exposed to ginger were unaffected. The results of this study suggests that maternal administration of ginger during mid pregnancy results in reduced maternal weight gain and increased embryonic loss without affecting the postnatal growth and physical maturation of the surviving offspring. Key words: Ginger, pregnancy, postnatal development, prenatal development. DOI = 10.4038/cjms.v50i1.116 The Ceylon of Medical Science 2007; 50: 1-