BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Ginger is widely used by pregnant women and nursing mothers as a remedy for nausea and vomiting. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the alcoholic extract of ginger on serum levels of estrogen, progesterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and ovarian follicles during pregnancy and lactation in the adult, female offspring of rats.

METHODS: This experimental study was conducted on 72 adult female rats, which were divided into 9 groups of 8, including the control groups, and recipients of 200, 100, 50 mg/kg of ginger alcoholic extract (perinatal and neonatal). Drug administration was performed via oral gavage, and by the end of infancy, the female offspring of each group were separated. At puberty, 8 animals were randomly selected from each group, and after blood sampling, serum levels of estrogen, progesterone, FSH and LH were measured. In addition, the number of follicles and yellow bodies (corpus luteum) were determined after the removal of ovaries.

FINDINGS: In comparison with the control groups, ginger caused a significant increase in the levels of estrogen (93.36±5.78), progesterone (4.52±0.45), FSH (0.90±0.05) and LH (0.79±0.08) in the experimental groups. Moreover, there was a significant increase in the number of follicles (6.40±0.33) and yellow bodies (7.00±1.41) in all the experimental groups (p≤0.05).

CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, consumption of ginger during pregnancy and lactation could increase the serum levels of estrogen, progesterone, FSH and LH, as well as the number of ovarian follicles, in the female offspring of rats.