It has been suggested that saffron increases the myometrial contractions and may lead to the abortion1. The present study was conducted to assess the effects of non toxic concentrations of aqueous saffron decoction on preterm delivery in mice. In this study 65 female BALB/c mice, weighting 25–30 grams, were breed in the animal house of medical college by keeping the ratio of male: females as 1:3, in each plastic cage. The females were checked daily for vaginal plaque and the day on which the vaginal plaque was observed, was considered as the first day of pregnancy. The pregnant rats were divided into 7 subgroups and placed in separate cages throughout the gestational period and were fed in the same conditions. Animals in control group received tape water but the test groups received different concentrations (0.8%, 0.4% & 0.2%) of aqueous saffron decoction in whole gestational period or only in 1st, 2nd or 3rd trimesters of gestational period. All animals had natural childbirth. Parturitions in 19th, 20th and 21th days of pregnancy was considered as normal delivery but deliveries before 19th day, were considered as preterm delivery. According to our findings the mean number of preterm delivery in animals receiving saffron decoction was dose dependently more than control group. Maximum preterm deliveries were observed in animals receiving different concentrations of aqueous saffron decoction on 3rd trimester or whole gestational period especially for 0.4% decoction. Data collections in this study indicate that saffron consumption especially in last trimester of gestation can lead to preterm delivery. Preterm delivery may be due to increase in uterine contractions. References: 1. Sadraei, H. et al., Int. J. Aromatherapy 13:121–127.
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Zeinali et al. (2009) studied this question.