title: Pathogenesis of exencephaly and cranioschisis induced in the rat after neural tube closure: role of the mesenchyme.
abstract: Exencephaly was induced after neural tube closure by administration of a single dose of 15 mg/kg cyclophosphamide (CPA) to pregnant Wistar rats. Embryos were collected at 6, 8, and 10 hr and then at 24-hr intervals until day 17 of gestation and processed for electronmicroscopy. Sections cut at the level of foramen of Monro and at the otic vesicle level were examined and compared with similarly processed and age-matched control embryonic tissues. The earliest changes in the CPA-treated embryonic mesenchyme (ME) included a relative reduction in polyribosomes and an accumulation of cellular debris in apparently normal cells and in the extracellular space (ECS). While dead cells were disintegrating in the ECS, numerous cells were engaged in phagocytosis and digestion of fragments of dead cells. Continued cell loss and inhibition of cell proliferation lead to a marked increase in ECS and loss of intercellular contacts. At 10 hr postinjection, these changes were accentuated. By day 13, the capillaries in the ME were found to have their endothelium attenuated; they also had no pericyte association. Unlike in controls, the CPA embryos never developed a proper primordium of the skull vault. Differentiation of the poorly organised ME cells was slow, and glycogen appeared in them late and persisted until day 17. The endoplasmic reticulum was dilated; lipid and lysosomes accumulated, and matrix secretion was inhibited. Macrophages were numerous. The capillaries proliferated and possessed intraluminal cytoplasmic flaps resembling capillaries in the controls at earlier stages of development. The ECS in the ME became edematous while blebs developed subcutaneously. The weak neuroepithelium had several cavities that communicated internally with the ventricle and externally with the blebs. Cell death, inhibition of cell proliferation, and failure of the appearance of skull vault primordium resulted in poor support to the NE. The mounting intraventricular pressure possibly lead to a breakdown of the unsupported NE, resulting in reopening of the neural tube.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Padmanabhan
mesh_terms: D000014:Abnormalities, Drug-Induced; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000002:abnormalities*; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000196:embryology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012886:Skull / Q000002:abnormalities*
chemical_list: D003520:Cyclophosphamide