en Traditional Medicine Original Article Original Article <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height:14pt"><span new="" roman="" times=""><b><i><span style="color:blue">Background</span></i></b><i><span style="color:blue">:</span></i> <i>Cassia fistula</i> was used traditionally as laxative in pregnant women. Nevertheless, its fetal and maternal effects in pregnancy have not been studied yet.<span style="font-size:9.0pt"></span></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:14pt"><span new="" roman="" times=""><b><i><span style="color:blue">Methods:</span></i></b> Oral (Lethal Dose, 50%) LD50 was determined in mice. In addition, a control group, pregnant rats in other 5 experimental groups (n=12) received orally <i>C. fistula </i>aqueous<i> </i>extract (500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg), tween80 (10%) and distilled water during pregnancy up to the delivery (21-23 days). Some serum indices were evaluated in maternal blood samples after delivery. Histopathologic and histomorphometric evaluations were performed on the selected slices of newborn rats.<i><span style="font-size:10.0pt"></span></i></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:14pt"><span new="" roman="" times=""><b><i><span style="color:blue">Results:</span></i></b> Anthraquinone&lrm; content of the aqueous extract was 0.34% w/w. Oral LD50 was obtained more than 5000mg/kg. No abortions and newborn anomalies were observed in groups. The height and weight of the offspring were significantly reduced by the administration of 500, and 2000 mg/kg of extract compared to control. There was no significant change in maternal blood urea and creatinine. Higher concentration (2000mg/kg) led to ALT elevation. ALS levels decreased dose-dependency in treatment groups comparing to control. Histopathological findings showed significant lung vascular congestion, and hypertrophy of heart in group tween80, and significant hepatic parenchymal inflammation in tween80 and 2000mg/kg and 1000mg/kg groups. In all tissues of all groups, malpighian body area and bowman&rsquo;s capsule space significantly increased compared to the control group.<b><i><span style="color:blue"></span></i></b></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:14pt"><span new="" roman="" times=""><b><i><span style="color:blue">Conclusion</span></i></b><i><span style="color:blue">:</span></i> It seems <i>C. fistula</i> extract is safe in pregnancy. Because of confounding role of tween80 in histopathological finding, more research is necessary.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="line-height:14pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="color:#0033cc"></span></span></i></b></span></span></span> Laxatives, Pregnancy, Cassia, Herbal medicine, Teratogenesis, Persian Medicine, 475 483 http://caspjim.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-698-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Saeed Hakiminia hakiminia.saeed@gmail.com 100319475328460037511 100319475328460037511 No Student Research Committee, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Ira Zahra Esmaeeli esmailyz70@yahoo.com 100319475328460037512 100319475328460037512 No Student Research Committee, Babol University of Medical Science, Babol, Iran Ali Akbar Moghadamnia moghadamnia@yahoo.com 100319475328460037513 100319475328460037513 No Department of Pharmacology, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Seyyed Gholam Ali Jorsaraei alijorsara@yahoo.com 100319475328460037514 100319475328460037514 No Department of Anatomical Sciences, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Farideh Feizi faridehfeizi@yahoo.com 100319475328460037515 100319475328460037515 No Department of Anatomical Sciences, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Sorayya Khafri khafri@yahoo.com 100319475328460037516 100319475328460037516 No Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, IR Iran Zahra Memariani memarianiz@gmail.com 100319475328460037517 100319475328460037517 No Department of Persian Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Babol University of Medical Science, Babol, Iran Hoda Shirafkan hodashirafkan@gmail.com 100319475328460037518 100319475328460037518 No Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Seyyed Ali Mozaffarpur seyyedali1357@gmail.com 100319475328460037519 100319475328460037519 Yes Traditional Medicine and History of Medical Sciences Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran