Prenatal Developmental Toxicity of ARVIDEX® Herbal Medicine in Albino Wistar Rats

Background ARVIDEX® is a polyherbal formulation under experimental development for potential immunomodulatory and antiviral applications. Despite preliminary pharmacological promise, evidence regarding its safety during pregnancy is lacking. This study therefore evaluated the prenatal developmental toxicity of ARVIDEX® in pregnant albino Wistar rats. Methods Fifty pregnant Wistar rats were randomly allocated to five groups (n=10 per group) and administered ARVIDEX® orally at doses of 250, 500, or 1000 mg/kg, a human equivalent dose (296.7 mg/kg), or distilled water (control) from gestation day 5 to day 19. Maternal endpoints included body weight variation, feed intake, organ weights, and serum biochemical indices. Caesarean section was performed on gestation day 20, followed by assessment of fetal implantation sites, resorption frequency, number of live fetuses, fetal body weight, crown rump length, and external anomalies. Statistical analysis employed one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Dunnett's or Tukey's post hoc tests where appropriate. Categorical variables were analyzed using the Chi square or Fisher's exact test, with statistical significance set at p