Abstract:
The effect of a superoxide dismutase inhibitor on pregnancy rate and fetalsurvival, and the effect of concomitant treatment with Toki-shakuyaku-san, wasstudied. Twelve week-old IV CS female mice were given diethyldithiocarbamate(DEDC; 0.9, 9, 45, and 225 mg kg<emph type="7">-1)intraperitioneally, from Day 3 to Day 5 of pregnancy, every 12 h, for a totalof six times. Two additional groups received both 45 mgkg<emph type="7">-1 DEDC and Toki-shakuyaku-san (50 or 200mg/100 mL), by water bottle, from 12 h before to 12 h after DEDCadministration. For each group, the pregnancy rate, the number of survivingfetuses, and the number of resorbed fetuses was calculated. Pregnancy rateswere 95.5, 81.8, 54.5 and 0%, respectively, in the DEDC groups and were100% in the control group. The fetal resorption rate was 0.9 in thecontrol group, and 1.0, 1.7, and 2.3, respectively, in the 0.9, 9, 45 mgkg<emph type="7">-1 DEDC groups. Administration of 200 mgToki-shakuyaku-san significantly (P<0.05) improvedthe pregnancy rate to 81.8%, and improved the degree of reducedintercellular interactions and insufficient decidual reactions found on Day 5in the endometrium of the DEDC groups. Toki-shakuyaku-san reduces the adverseeffects of excess superoxides on the endometrium during implantation.