Effect of ginger tea on the fetal development of Sprague-Dawley rats

This study investigated the effect of ginger, a common morning sickness rem edy, on fetal development. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were administered, from gestation day 6 to 15, 20 g/liter or 50 g/liter ginger tea via their d rinking water and then sacrificed at day 20. No maternal toxicity was obser ved, however embryonic loss in the treatment groups was double that of the controls (P < 0.05). No gross morphologic malformations were seen in the tr eated fetuses. Fetuses exposed to ginger tea were found to be significantly heavier than controls, an effect that was greater in female fetuses and wa s not correlated with increased placental size. Treated fetuses also had mo re advanced skeletal development as determined by measurement of sternal an d metacarpal ossification centers. The results of this study suggest that i n utero exposure to ginger tea results in increased early embryo loss with increased growth in surviving fetuses. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All r ights reserved.