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Impairment of preimplantation and postimplantation embryonic development through intrinsic apoptotic processes by ginsenoside Rg1 in vitro and in vivo

Ginsenoside Rg1, which is the most abundant compound found in Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng), has demonstrated various pharmacological actions, including neuroprotective, immune‐stimulatory, and antidiabetic effects. Pregnant women, especially in the Asian community, consume ginseng as a nutritive supplement. Thus, the effects of ginsenoside‐Rg1 on embryonic development need to be investigated, such as in a mouse model. As previous investigations have found that ginsenoside Rg1 appears to either trigger or prevent apoptosis in different cell lines, the effects of this agent on apoptosis remain to be clarified. In this study, we investigated whether ginsenoside Rg1 exerts a hazardous effect on mouse blastocysts and/or affects subsequent embryonic development in vitro and in vivo. Blastocysts treated with 25–100 μM ginsenoside Rg1 exhibited significant induction of apoptosis and a corresponding decrease in the inner cell mass (ICM) cell number. Importantly, the implantation rate was lower among ginsenoside Rg1‐treated blastocysts compared to untreated controls. Moreover, embryo transfer assays revealed that blastocysts treated with 100 μM ginsenoside Rg1 exhibited increased resorption of postimplantation embryos and decreased weight among surviving fetuses. In vivo, intravenous injection of mice with ginsenoside Rg1 (2, 4, or 6 mg/kg body weight/day) for 4 days was associated with increased apoptosis of blastocyst‐stage embryos and negatively impacted early embryonic development. Further experiments revealed that these effects may reflect the ability of ginsenoside Rg1 to trigger oxidative stress‐mediated intrinsic apoptotic signaling. Our in vitro results indicate that ginsenoside　Rg1 treatment increases intracellular oxidative stress, decreases mitochondrial membrane potential, increases the Bax/Bcl‐2 ratio, and activates caspase‐9 and caspase‐3, but not caspase‐8. Taken together, our study results strongly suggest that ginsenoside Rg1 induces apoptosis and impairs the early preimplantation and postimplantation development of mouse embryos, both in vitro and in vivo.