Safety evaluation of Brazilian red propolis uses during pregnancy and offspring development in a mouse model.

Abstract

Patterns of health, illness and disease are influenced at different stages of the life course by a combination of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors. Brazilian red propolis (BRP) is a type of propolis with great potential in health therapy. However, no studies are evaluating the safe use and toxicity of the development of this propolis. The aim of this study is to investigate the safety of using BRP in pregnancy and in the development of offspring and adult life in an animal model. The pregnant mice were divided into four groups, two control groups (C, Tween 80 1%) and two BRP groups (200mg/kg/day by gavage), administered for 10 and 20 days. The animals were euthanized, and analyses related to weight gain, implantation and birth rates, serum level of cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-6 and IL-10), morphological and stereological of the uNK were performed. The groups of offspring (F1C and F1BRP) were obtained by treating females throughout pregnancy. The puppies were analyzed for physical and neurological development for 30 days after birth and behavior in adulthood (locomotor activity and memory). The consumption of BRP significantly changed the number of uNK subtypes, with a decrease in subtype III (8.3 cells / AT) concomitant to an increase in subtype IV (5.31 cells / AT) in region 2 of the implantation site at the 10th gd in the groups of mothers, but without changing weight gain, implantation and birth rates, and the serum level of cytokines. In the F1 generation, no congenital malformations, disturbances in the parameters of physical and neurological development, and behavioral changes in adult offspring were observed. Our datas indicates that BRP is safe to be used during the gestational period of mice and does not cause changes in the offspring through fetal programming, presenting the potential for future pre-clinical trials.