Gofflot F, Nihoul B, Van Maele-Fabry G, Goethals F, Picard JJ. Developmental toxicity of valproic acid assessed in a sequential culture of hepatocytes and embryos.
Toxicol In Vitro 1994;
8:181-9. [PMID:
20692904 DOI:
10.1016/0887-2333(94)90181-3]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/1993] [Revised: 06/06/1993] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The absence of maternal metabolism in the whole rodent embryo culture (WEC) may partially be considered as a limitation when chemicals are tested for teratogenicity. In the present study, the possibility to combine incubation of rat hepatocytes and WEC in a sequential way was investigated, and valproic acid (VPA) was used as a model compound. Rat hepatocytes were incubated at a density of 2 x 10(6) cells/ml in a mixture of Waymouth medium and human and rat serum (5:4:1, by vol.). After 4 hr the culture medium was recovered and used to culture 8.5-day-old mouse embryos for 24 hr. When VPA (1 mm) was added at the beginning of embryo culture, the rates of mortality and dysmorphogenesis were 87 and 100%, respectively. When VPA was added at the beginning of the incubation of hepatocytes, these values were 18 and 78%, respectively. Moreover, the differentiation of embryos was less affected when VPA was added at the beginning of the hepatocyte culture. The concentration of VPA decreased during the incubation of hepatocytes and glucurono-VPA reached 56% at the end of the incubation. Five other unconjugated metabolites were also detected. It is concluded that addition of an exogenous metabolic activation system to embryo culture results in a decrease of the teratogenic potential of VPA.
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