Effect of Corn Silk Aqueous Extract on Brown Adipose Tissue of Embryos and Neonates of Diabetic Pregnant Mice: A Histological Study

CONTEXT: Many congenital malformations are seen increasingly, due to diabetic mothers causing a burden on health systems. Corn silk (CS) extract has been used as a natural hypoglycemic treatment. However, its teratogenic safety was not studied. AIMS: Therefore, in this study, we examine the effect of CS aqueous extract on fetuses, offspring of normal and diabetic female mice treated with CS aqueous extract. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Pregnant female mice were divided into two groups diabetic and nondiabetic. Then, each of these groups was divided into control and treated. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A daily dose of 4 g/kg of CS aqueous extract was given orally to the treated groups, control groups were given distilled water. The collection of samples was at day 16.5 of pregnancy, and neonates. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) in the sections of the preserved sample was examined. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: BAT areas were measured from 10 samples of each treatment age group in 2 sections. Data were analyzed with one-way ANOVA, then, two-independent sample test (Mann–Whitney) was done to test the significance of differences between groups. RESULTS: The BAT areas were negatively affected by diabetes and the extract. Both the extract and diabetes caused an increase in fat accumulation in the adipocytes with varying degrees. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed for the first time to our knowledge that the use of CS aqueous extract during pregnancy affected BAT organization and area, and that the used dose did not decrease the malformations caused by diabetes. More studies with different doses should be investigated.