Effect of retinoic acid on implantation and post-implantation development of mouse embryos in vitro.
BACKGROUND
This study was designed to examine the embryotoxic potential of retinoic acid (RA) at the blastocyst stage and during early post-implantation development of mouse embryos in vitro.


RESULTS
All-trans retinoic acid (t-RA) was administered to ICR mice embryos at a dose level of 0, 0.001 micromol/l, 0.1 micromol/l and 10 micromol/l throughout in-vitro culture. A total of 404 embryos was randomly assigned to all different dose groups. The percentage of embryos in later stages of development changed depending upon the dose of RA used. Exposure to 10 micromol/l of t-RA at the blastocyst stage, implanted blastocyst stage or early oocyte stage was also found to cause different degrees of retardation of embryo development and embryo death. These findings demonstrate, for the first time, that RA exerts an adverse effect on embryo growth during the early post-implantation stages of development, in comparison with day 3 to day 8 of gestation in vivo.


CONCLUSIONS
Although isotretinoin (13-cis-retinoic acid) is effective for the therapy of cystic acne and other dermatological disorders, retinoid treatment should be avoided at the early post-implantation stage of gestation.
Huang
F J
FJ
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 123 Ta-Pei Road, Niao-Sung Hsiang, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan, ROC. huangfj@seed.net.tw
Wu
T C
TC
Tsai
M Y
MY
D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000187:drug effects*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology*
D014212:Tretinoin