The Effects of Lacosamide in the Early Stages of Neural Tube Development in Chick Embryos

Abstract

Antiepileptic drugs (AED) are teratogens that confer a risk of various congenital malformations including neural tube defects. Lacosamide (LCM) is a novel third-generation AED and its effects on neural tube (NT) development remain unclear. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of LCM in the early stages of NT development in the chicken embryo. Three different doses of LCM were applied under the embryonic disks of chicken embryos after they were incubated for 30 hours. Incubation was continued for an additional 80 hours and then all embryos were obtained for routine histology. In the LCM-treated groups, there was occlusion in the middle and ventral levels of the cavity. In the group treated with 1.60 mg of LCM, the NT cavity was closed, the notochord exhibited deterioration, and cellular association appeared abnormal. In the groups treated with 0.12 and 0.5 mg of LCM, the ectoderm layer surrounding the embryo was hypertrophic and the number of pyknotic cells increased in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, different doses of LCM had different effects. The results of this study demonstrated that LCM causes histopathological alterations during the neurulation stage that might ultimately result in the development of congenital defects and/or malformations.