HOMEPRODUCTSCOMPANYCONTACTFAQResearchDictionaryPharmaSign Up FREE or Login

Developmental toxicity of Citrus aurantium in rats.

AbstractBACKGROUND:
Ephedra was commonly used in herbal products marketed for weight loss until safety concerns forced its removal from products. Even before the ban, manufacturers had begun to replace ephedra with other compounds, including Citrus aurantium, or bitter orange. The major component in the bitter orange extract is synephrine which is chemically similar to ephedrine. The purpose of this study was to determine if relatively pure synephrine or synephrine present as a constituent of a bitter orange extract produced developmental toxicity in rats.
METHOD:
Sprague-Dawley rats were dosed daily by gavage with one of several different doses of synephrine from one of two different extracts. Caffeine was added to some doses. Animals were sacrificed on GD 21, and fetuses were examined for the presence of various developmental toxic endpoints.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:
At doses up to 100 mg synephrine/kg body weight, there were no adverse effects on embryolethality, fetal weight, or incidences of gross, visceral, or skeletal abnormalities. There was a decrease in maternal weight at 50 mg synephrine/kg body weight when given as the 6% synephrine extract with 25 mg caffeine/kg body weight; there was also a decrease in maternal weight in the caffeine only group. This decrease in body weight may have been due to decreased food consumption which was also observed in these two groups. Overall, doses of up to 100 mg synephrine/kg body weight did not produce developmental toxicity in Sprague-Dawley rats.
AuthorsDeborah K Hansen, Beth E Juliar, Gene E White, Linda S Pellicore
JournalBirth defects research. Part B, Developmental and reproductive toxicology (Birth Defects Res B Dev Reprod Toxicol) Vol. 92 Issue 3 Pg. 216-23 (Jun 2011) ISSN: 1542-9741 [Electronic] United States
PMID21594979 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
Copyright© 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Chemical References
  • Ephedrine
  • Synephrine
Topics
  • Animals
  • Bone and Bones (abnormalities, drug effects, pathology)
  • Citrus (toxicity)
  • Embryonic Development (drug effects)
  • Ephedrine (chemistry, toxicity)
  • Female
  • Fetus (drug effects, embryology, pathology)
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Outcome
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Synephrine (chemistry, toxicity)

Join CureHunter, for free Research Interface BASIC access!

Take advantage of free CureHunter research engine access to explore the best drug and treatment options for any disease. Find out why thousands of doctors, pharma researchers and patient activists around the world use CureHunter every day.
Realize the full power of the drug-disease research graph!


Choose Username:
Email:
Password:
Verify Password:
Enter Code Shown: