The Reproductive Toxicity Associated with Dodonaea viscosa, a Folk Medicinal Plant in Saudi Arabia

Dodonaea viscosa is a medicinal plant which is being used to treat various diseases in humans. The available safety data suggest that the plant does not produce any side effects, or toxicity, in tested adult experimental animals. However, the influence of D. viscosa on fetus or embryonic development is largely not known. This study was conducted in order to find out the reproductive toxicity of D. viscosa in experimental animals. Zebrafish embryos were used as the in vivo developmental toxicity animal model. Methanolic crude extract, hexane, chloroform, and butanol fractions were prepared from the leaves of D. viscosa. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to serial dilution of crude extract and other fractions. The crude extract and hexane fraction induced higher level of toxicity in zebrafish embryos as compared to chloroform and butanol fractions. The phenol and flavonoid estimation revealed that crude leaves extract and hexane fractions had lower content of phenol and flavonoid. Two major compounds, phytol and methyl ester, of hexadecanoic acid were identified by gas chromatography and mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS) analysis. More detailed studies are needed to check the toxicity of D. viscosa in pregnant experimental animals; however, the results from this study have shown that D. viscosa possesses reproductive toxicity and its use and doses must be carefully monitored in pregnant patients.