Effect of aciclovir on the development of the chick embryo in ovo

The lack of effects of nonthermal RF electromagnetic fields on the development of rat embryos grown in culture

Rat embryos (9.5 days old) were exposed for up to 36 h to various radio frequency (RF) electric and magnetic fields (modulation frequency: 16, 60, 120 Hz; electric field strength: 60, 600 V/m; magnetic induction: 0.2, 2.0 microT). A resonator technique was used to generate standing waves thus fulfilling three conditions: The site of maximum electric and magnetic oscillations could be separated, the field strengths were known exactly and a high homogeneity over the sample volume was achieved. In each frequency region the transmitter power levels were set to give specific absorption rate (SAR) values spreading from far below to far above the values met in the field of telecommunication (0.2, 1.0 and 5.0 W/kg). The criteria used to examine the embryos on day 11.5 for possible structural effects consisted of a scoring system, photographs, histology using both light and electron microscopy and determination of the protein content. All these data have been taken as sets of different intermediate frequency (IF) amplitude modulation of the RF carriers. Neither the electric nor the magnetic fields tested interfered significantly with the normal growth and differentiation of the embryos in vitro.

Effect of hydroquinone (HQ) on the development of chick embryos

The developmental toxic effect of hydroquinone (HQ) was evaluated in chick embryos after 72 and 96 hour of incubation. HQ was injected into the air sacs of the eggs at doses ranging from 0.0625 to 40 micrograms per egg. On the 15th day of incubation, live embryos including controls were removed from the eggs and examined for gross malformations and body hemorrhage. The LD50 values for HQ at 72 and 96 hours of incubation were 8.59 and 15.63 micrograms per egg, respectively. HQ produced gross malformations such as body hemorrhage, curled claws, everted viscera, defective beak, exencephaly and monophtalmia in developing chick embryos at dosages ranging from 20 to 0.0625 micrograms per egg in both groups. The various types of malformations and their incidences in both groups were higher in comparison with the controls, but were not statistically significant. At no concentration did malformations occur greater, than 35 percent for both 72 and 96 hours of incubation. The results of this study reveal that HQ is embryo toxic at higher doses and that teratogenic potential of HQ is unremarkable.

Abnormal thymus development and impaired function of the immune system in rats after prenatal exposure to aciclovir

Aciclovir (synonym: acyclovir) causes abnormal thymus development in rats. After treatment on day 10 of gestation a weight reduction of the organ is obvious in 21-day-old fetuses which persists postnatally. Adult male rats exposed in utero to one or three injections of 100 mg aciclovir/kg body wt given to the dam on day 10 of pregnancy showed a reduction of the thymus weight to 333 +/- 158 mg and 276 +/- 61 mg (control: 428 +/- 92 mg; n = 10). Corresponding alterations were detectable in female offspring. Liver weight was also decreased and spleen weight (in relation to body wt) was significantly increased in the offspring after the three exposures. In a host resistance model with Trichinella spiralis the function of the immune system of rats prenatally exposed to aciclovir was examined. Six weeks postnatally 10-12 randomly selected male rat offspring of one control and two treatment groups (1 or 3 injections of 100 mg aciclovir/kg body wt on day 10 of gestation) were infected orally with 500 Trichinella spiralis muscle larvae. Before and several times after the infection blood was taken from a tail vein or obtained by decapitation for examination of the antibody titers (IgM, IgG, IgA, IgE) to antigens of T. spiralis. Six weeks after the infection the weight of relevant organs was determined and tongue preparations were used for T. spiralis muscle larvae counting. Aciclovir exposed animals showed a different immune response than control rats. IgM titers in both treatment groups were higher than in controls two weeks after the infection but not different by the end of the experiment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)