Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Mental Diseases in Pregnancy: An In Vitro Safety Assessment

Deborah Spiess; Moritz Winker; Antoine Chauveau; Vanessa Fabienne Abegg; Olivier Potterat; Matthias Hamburger; Carsten Gründemann; Ana Paula Simões-Wüst

doi:10.1055/a-1628-8132

Planta Medica, Table of Contents

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Planta Med 2022; 88(12): 1036-1046
DOI: 10.1055/a-1628-8132

Biological and Pharmacological Activity

Original Papers

Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Mental Diseases in Pregnancy: An In Vitro Safety Assessment

Deborah Spiess ^*

¹Department of Obstetrics, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

²Division of Pharmaceutical Biology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

,

Moritz Winker^*

³Center for Complementary Medicine, Institute for Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology, University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, Freiburg, Germany

⁴Translational Complementary Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

,

Antoine Chauveau

²Division of Pharmaceutical Biology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

,

Vanessa Fabienne Abegg

²Division of Pharmaceutical Biology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

,

Olivier Potterat

²Division of Pharmaceutical Biology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

,

Matthias Hamburger

²Division of Pharmaceutical Biology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

,

Carsten Gründemann^**

³Center for Complementary Medicine, Institute for Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology, University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, Freiburg, Germany

⁴Translational Complementary Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

,

Ana Paula Simões-Wüst ^**

¹Department of Obstetrics, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Pregnancy is a critical period for medical care, during which the well-being of woman and fetus must be considered. This is particularly relevant in managing non-psychotic mental disorders since treatment with central nervous system-active drugs and untreated NMDs may have negative effects. Some well-known herbal preparations (phytopharmaceuticals), including St. Johnʼs wort, California poppy, valerian, lavender, and hops, possess antidepressant, sedative, anxiolytic, or antidepressant properties and could be used to treat mental diseases such as depression, restlessness, and anxiety in pregnancy. Our goal was to assess their safety in vitro, focusing on cytotoxicity, induction of apoptosis, genotoxicity, and effects on metabolic properties and differentiation in cells widely used as a placental cell model (BeWo b30 placenta choriocarcinoma cells). The lavender essential oil was inconspicuous in all experiments and showed no detrimental effects. At low-to-high concentrations, no extract markedly affected the chosen safety parameters. At an artificially high concentration of 100 µg/mL, extracts from St. Johnʼs wort, California poppy, valerian, and hops had minimal cytotoxic effects. None of the extracts resulted in genotoxic effects or altered glucose consumption or lactate production, nor did they induce or inhibit BeWo b30 cell differentiation. This study suggests that all tested preparations from St. Johnʼs wort, California poppy, valerian, lavender, and hops, in concentrations up to 30 µg/mL, do not possess any cytotoxic or genotoxic potential and do not compromise placental cell viability, metabolic activity, and differentiation. Empirical and clinical studies during pregnancy are needed to support these in vitro data.

Key words

non-psychotic mental disorders - pregnancy - BeWo cell line - toxicity - Hypericum perforatum - Hypericaceae - Eschscholzia californica - Papaveraceae - Valeriana officinalis - Caprifoliaceae - Lavandula angustifolia - Lamiaceae - Humulus lupulus - Cannabaceae

Full Text

References

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