title: Teratogenicity study of ammonium glycyrrhizinate in the Sprague-Dawley rat.
abstract: Ammonium glycyrrhizinate (AG), a commercially used salt of glycyrrhizic acid, was administered in the drinking-water to Sprague-Dawley rats on days 7-17 of pregnancy. The actual intakes were 0, 21.33 +/- 1.22, 238.75 +/- 17.50 and 679.94 +/- 69.87 mg AG/kg body weight/day for groups 0, 1, 2 and 3, respectively. AG caused polydipsia in the dams. Foetuses from the treated litters did not present an increase in external malformations, a decrease in weight or a decrease in the degree of ossification. However, there was a slight but significant increase in embryolethality and in the prevalence of external haemorrhages. Skeletal examination revealed a dose-related increase in minor anomalies, especially in the sternebral variants. Renal ectopy also increased significantly at the highest dose. These results indicate that the possible embryotoxicity of aromatizing compounds should be considered.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Tossicologia Comparata ed Ecotossicologia, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mantovani
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ricciardi
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Stazi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piccioni
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Badellino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Vincenzi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caiola
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Patriarca
mesh_terms: D000450:Aldosterone / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000187:drug effects*; D006034:Glycyrrhetinic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000633:toxicity; D019695:Glycyrrhizic Acid; D011188:Potassium / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012964:Sodium / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000450:Aldosterone; D019695:Glycyrrhizic Acid; D012964:Sodium; D006034:Glycyrrhetinic Acid; D011188:Potassium