The relationship between the maternal consumption of barberry, saffron, pickled vegetables, and tea and the odds of congenital anomalies in Iranian children under 10 years of age: A case-control study

Abstract

Background: The administration of barberry extract and saffron to pregnant mice has been reported to cause abnormalities in fetus development. Given the high cultivation of barberry and saffron in Qayenat, we aimed to investigate the association of the maternal use of barberry, saffron, pickled vegetables, and tea during gestation with Congenital Anomalies (CA) in Qayenat City, South Khorasan Province.

Methods and materials: The present case-control study was done on 150 patients under 10 years of age with CA (case group) and 150 healthy children that were selected for each case, with the same age (±2 months) and sex, from the same town (control group) between March and May 2023. In this study, participants were included using convenient sampling in a consecutive manner. To control the possible confounding factors, and to identify independent risk factors for CA, multivariate logistic regression, adjusted odds ratios (ORs), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were carried out for this study.

Results: More than 3 times pickled vegetable consumption in the week was also associated with an increased risk of CA (OR = 5.09; 95% CI: 1.66-15.55). More daily intake of barberry (more than a tablespoon) was associated with higher odds of CA (OR = 9.23; 95% CI: 3.42-24.90). There was no significant association between CA and daily intake of saffron (P ≥ 0.05). Five and more than five cups of tea per day had a positive significant association with CA (OR = 3.21; 95% CI: 1.05-10.80).

Conclusions: In the present study, we found that maternal use of barberry, pickled vegetables, and tea during pregnancy were positively related to the odds of CA. Further detailed studies to determine the teratogenicity mechanism of these factors are recommended.

Keywords: Berberis; Iran; congenital anomalies; pregnancy.