Herbal medicine in pregnancy

Background and aims: Herbal medicines are derived from natural plants with medicinal or preventive properties. Use of herbal remedies has increased despite lack of scientific evidence about their efficacy and safety during pregnancy. Methods: This is an internet-based study. In this mini review, a publication search was conducted in the Medline, Google Scholar, and EMBASE databases, using a combination of medical subject headings (MeSH) and Black cohosh, Ginseng, Red Raspberry, Aloe vera, Chamomile, Chasteberry and Garlic keywords. The MeSH terms included herbal medicine, herbal products, pregnancy, and pregnant women. Results: Herbal remedies are very common. Some information will list an herb as safe to consume during pregnancy, whereas another source may list the same herb as unsafe depending on the source. Although herbs are natural, not all herbs are safe to take during pregnancy. Conclusion: Medicinal herbs can be very useful and effective during pregnancy. Despite the beneficial effects of herbs during pregnancy, use of certain herbal and traditional medicines without prior consultation with a health care professional may be harmful for pregnant women and their babies

Association between rs1049174 NKG2D gene polymorphism and idiopathic recurrent spontaneous abortion in Iranian women: a case-control study

Natural killer group 2, member D (NKG2D) is one of the best known activating receptors of NK cells, which recognises its ligand on altered or stressed cells and activates NK cells to kill them. In this study, the single nucleotide polymorphism of the NKG2D gene for rs1049174 mutation was compared in 140 women with recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) and 175 control women with at least one successful pregnancy and without any known pregnancy loss. The findings just revealed that GG genotype and G allele were significantly higher in the case group compared with the control group (p < .001). Our results regarding decreased risk of RSA in C allele (OR = 0.438; 95%CI = 0.310–0.619; p < .001), and GC genotype (OR = 0.492; 95%CI = 0.214–0.574; p < .001) compared with G allele and GG genotype respectively. This study demonstrated a significant association between NKG2D gene polymorphism (rs1049174 G/C) and the risk of RSA in Iranian women.Impact statement What is already known on this subject? According to previous investigations, maternal immune responses may affect the foetus, causing recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). The main cause of RSA has not yet been detected in nearly 50% of the cases. What do the results of this study add? The results showed that the frequency of G allele and C allele were significantly different in the case group and control group. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? The results suggest a protective function of C allele because it significantly decreased the risk of RSA compared to G allele. It improves inhibition of NK cells and probably participates in maintaining pregnancy in fertile controls; whereas, G allele is related to a slight inhibition of NK cells, probably leading to increase effectiveness of NK activation and undesirable inflammation, which consequently causes foetal rejection