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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Curatella americana L. is employed in popular medicine for treating diabetes. However, the understanding around its outcomes during pregnancy is unclear., Aim of the Study: To evaluate the phytochemical and hypoglycemic analysis of the C. americana extract and its maternal-fetal effect on diabetic rats., Materials and Method: Diabetes was chemically induced 24 h after birth in Wistar female newborn rats. At adulthood, after diabetes status confirmation, the rats were mated and randomized into four experimental groups: Nondiabetic (Control): given water; Treated: given C. americana extract; Diabetic, and Treated Diabetic rats. The aqueous extract of C. americana leaves (300 mg/kg) was administered daily through oral route during pregnancy. Maternal toxicity and biochemical profile, reproductive outcomes, fetal development, and phenolic composition and biogenic amines in aqueous extract were analyzed., Results and Conclusion: Phytochemical analysis revealed that the main phenolic components are 3-hydroxytyrosol, kaempferol, and quercetin, while tryptophan and putrescine derivatives were identified as the dominant amines. C. americana extract treatment improved the lipid profile, although no effect on hyperglycemic control in diabetic rats was observed. Maternal diabetes or C. americana extract caused embryo losses confirmed by the lower number of pre-embryos in early pregnancy and higher percentage of abnormal morphologically pre-embryos. C. americana extract previously caused premature pre-embryo fixation before implantation window in nondiabetic and diabetic mothers and intrauterine growth restriction in the fetuses of treated nondiabetic dams, complicating the embryo fetal development. These findings reinforce the caution of indiscriminate use of medicinal plants, especially during pregnancy., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Phyllanthus niruri is a well-known plant for its therapeutic purposes to treat various diseases, being widely used by the population, mainly by women. However, there is no scientific confirmation of the effects of use during pregnancy., Aim of the Study: Evaluating the effect of Phyllanthus niruri aqueous extract on the maternal toxicity, reproductive outcomes and fetal anomaly incidence in rats., Materials and Methods: Pregnant rats were distributed into four experimental groups: Control = treated with water (vehicle); Treated 150 = treated with P. niruri at dose 150 mg/kg and; Treated 300 = treated with P. niruri at dose 300 mg/kg; and Treated 600 = treated with P. niruri at dose 600 mg/kg. The rats were treated by intragastric route (gavage) with P. niruri or vehicle (water) from gestational day 0 to 21. At day 21 of pregnancy, maternal reproductive outcomes, biochemical profile and maternal renal tissue were evaluated. The fetuses and placentas were collected and analyzed., Results: Treatment with P. niruri did not alter the reproductive performance outcomes of rats. However, treated 600 group presented with changes in maternal kidney weight and morphology. The plant did not present teratogenic effect, but caused fetal macrosomia and increased ossification sites., Conclusion: Treatment with aqueous extract of P. niruri administered during gestation did not cause reproductive toxicity, but led to changes in maternal kidneys and in offspring weight, showing that the leaf extract of this plant can produce detrimental effects during pregnancy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There are no conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)