Protective effects of Zingiber officinale extract on myocardium and placenta against labetalol-induced histopathological, immune-histochemical, and ultrastructural alterations in pregnant rats

Abstract

Abstract Background Labetalol is an antihypertensive drug commonly used in obstetrics for both long-term treatment and the acute management of severe maternal hypertension. However, there have not been published articles about the effects of labetalol on the myocardium and the placenta. This study aimed to estimate the histological, immune-histochemical, and ultrastructural cardio- and placental-toxicity of labetalol administration and the effectiveness of ginger against this toxicity in pregnant rats. Labetalol was daily administrated orally with or without ginger at a dose of 300 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg, respectively, during the gestation days 6 to 20. Results In the labetalol-administrated group, the myocardium displayed histological and ultrastructure destructive changes and a significant increase in caspase-3 expression. Labetalol also decreased the placental weight compared with the control group, caused marked degeneration and disorganization of their architecture, and increased caspase-3 expression. Co-administration of ginger after labetalol highly ameliorates the adverse effect of labetalol on both cardiac and placental tissues. Conclusions It is concluded that ginger can mitigate cardiac and placental toxicity induced by labetalol administration into pregnant rats.