Reproductive Toxicity of Eugenol in Wistar Rats

Objective: To analyze the effects of eugenol oral administration during pre-implantation and organogenesis periods in pregnant Wistar rats. Methodology: The animals were divided into eight experimental groups (4 groups for each period) subdivided into control groups and daily treated with eugenol at doses of 37.5, 187.5 and 375 mg/kg/day (n= 9) during pre-implantation or organogenesis phases. Results: At all tested doses of eugenol, the groups treated during the pre-implantation presented alterations in the maternal organs, increased pre-and post-implantation loss and stillbirth records. The groups treated during organogenesis also presented alterations in the maternal organs and reduction of the placental indexes, added to the skeletal alterations, in all treatment doses. There were no significant fetal visceral changes. Conclusions: Oral administration of eugenol reduced maternal reproductive capacity in the pre-implantation phase and promoted toxic effects and fetal malformations in organogenesis.