Effects of ethanol dosage and absorbic acid antioxidant therapy on embryonic chick development

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Fernandes, Eurielle

• Congenital malformations are a major cause of infant morbidity and mortality, and exposure to teratogens such as ethanol/alcohol during pregnancy can have harmful effects on the developing embryo. The severity of fetal damage depends upon the amount and timing of fetal exposure to alcohol, as well as the genetic background of the fetus. Antioxidants are known to have therapeutic properties and may prevent or reduce the occurrence of malformations upon
  ethanol exposure during development. In this study, the effects of ethanol dosage and antioxidant therapy on embryonic development in the chick model were examined. The effect of four different ethanol concentrations, namely 0% (control), 5%, 10% and 15% ethanol was studied to examine if a dose dependence exists in the morphological effects of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Additionally, ethanol-exposed embryos were treated with vitamin C to determine if it has a protective effect against ethanol-induced teratogenicity in the chick model. Embryos were examined for craniofacial malformation and abnormal limb development using staining techniques. Data was analyzed using ANOVA. Results indicate that exposure to increasing doses of ethanol has a significant impact upon the severity of phenotypic malformations produced in the developing chick embryo. Additionally, vitamin C was not found to be significantly effective in preventing ethanol-induced malformations in the developing chick embryo.

• Date created

  2013-08-04

• Subjects / Keywords

  • congenital malformations
  • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
  • ethanol
  • antioxdiants
  • vitamin C
  • BIO 489

• Type of Item

  Research Material

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-q0s6-yz66

• License

  Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International