Embryotoxicity of Psoralea corylifolia L.: in vivo and in vitro studies.

BACKGROUND: Psoralea corylifolia L. (PC) was commonly used to treat miscarriages clinically. The aim of this study was to examine its embryotoxicity in mice and embryonic stem cells (ESCs). METHODS: Quality control of PC extract including reference marker compounds, pesticide residues, and heavy metals was authenticated with HPLC, Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Pregnant mice were randomly assigned into five groups and dosed with distilled water (G1), PC extract of 2 (G2), 4 (G3), or 8 g/kg/day (G4), and vitamin A (G5). Meanwhile, half maximal inhibitory concentration values for ESCs and 3T3 cells were identified in a cytotoxicity assay, and apoptosis in neuroepithelium was assessed by transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: In the G4 group, a statistically significant decrease in the total fetus, live fetus, and gravid uterine weight, and increase in the resorbed fetus, postimplantation loss, and neuroepithelial apoptosis as well as maternal liver-weight were found (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PC extracts at 8 g/kg/day might cause fetal toxicity and maternal liver damage in mice, although it did not cause typical malformation and ESC's cytotoxicity in this experiment. Our data suggested that high dosage and long-term administration of PC preparations may not be safe for pregnant women.

Temperature effect on the shear-induced cell damage in biofabrication.

Biofabrication that incorporates living cells to manufacture various bioproducts is often carried out at different temperatures as the process demands. In the process, cells are subjected to mechanical forces, which may damage cells if the forces reach a certain level. Previous studies have shown that the cell damage is mainly caused by shear stress; however, none of them looked at the temperature effect on cell damage. In the present work, the influence of temperature on shear-induced cell damage was investigated experimentally by using a cone-and-plate rheometer, and based on the experimental results, a cell damage law was established to quantitatively describe the relationship between the cell damage percent and temperature. The so-established cell damage law was then applied to the modeling of the cell damage percent that occurs in the biofabrication process in which pressurized air was applied to dispense Schwann cells suspended in the alginate solution at different temperatures. The agreement between the model predictions and the experimental results suggests that the method presented in this article is effective for use in the investigation of the temperature effect, thereby providing a cue to preserve cell viability in the biofabrication processes.