Abstract
Background: "Rosmarinus officinalis"( rosemary) is a natural herb that is used by humans for the treatment of many conditions. The extract of this plant has been used as an antioxidant to improve memory, stimulate hair growth, treat asthma, treat gastric ulcers, and even, some time ago, prevent and treat cancer. Aim: This work was performed to study the effect of different doses of rosemary extract on some internal organs of young albino rats whose mothers were treated with rosemary extract throughout the lactation period (21 days). Methods: The animals were classified into three groups: the first was regarded as the control, in which mothers received no treatment, while mothers in the second and third groups were treated orally with rosemary aqueous extract (prepared by using leaves of this plant) at doses of 200 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg respectively. At the end of the study, the young male rats from different groups were sacrificed, and their livers, kidneys, and testes were prepared for histological examination. Results: The physical and histological assessment of the offspring showed that treatment of lactating mothers with a high dose of rosemary extract (1000 mg/kg) affected the health of their young infants as they failed to gain weight and revealed some atrophic and degenerative changes in their liver and kidney, while the germinal epithelium of the testis is restricted to the spermatogonia and primary spermatocyte with a significant reduction in Leydig cells number compared to other groups. Conclusion: The research concluded that a high dose of rosemary extract, rather than a modest dose, can affect the health of young infants whose mothers were treated with this extract during lactation, so this plant has teratogenicity and should be avoided by humans during pregnancy and lactation.
