Congenital anomalies induced in normal and adrenalectomized rats by amniocentesis.

Abstract

AbstractSprague‐Dawley rats, which are not susceptible to the teratogenic effects of adrenalectomy, adrenal corticoids, and corticotropin noted in other species, were subjected to amniocentesis and to amniocentesis plus adrenalectomy.Amniocentesis was shown to be teratogenic when performed at any time between the fourteenth and eighteenth gestational days inclusive, but no malformations occurred either in control fetuses or when amniocentesis was performed on the thirteenth day of gestation. Fetal resorptions were increased following single amniocentesis on any gestational day from the thirteenth to the eighteenth inclusive. The predominant defects induced were cleft palate and limb deformity. Cleft palate occurred only after amniocentesis on the fourteenth, fifteenth, or sixteenth days of gestation, principally on the fifteenth day. However, limb deformity, consisting primarily of malrotation, syndactyly, and varying degrees of agenesis, occurred following single amniocentesis on any day of gestation from the fourteenth to the eighteenth inclusive, but principally on the fifteenth day. Adrenalectomy did not alter significantly either the nature or the incidence of the anomalies induced by amniocentesis.The data indicate that amniocentesis is teratogenic in the rat, and that the adrenal glands are neither essential for, nor do they exert any detectable influence upon the induction of those malformations.