title: The role of folic acid in prevention of neural tube defects caused by high dose progesterone.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the effect of high dose progesterone (HDP) alone, or in     combination with folic acid (FA), on occurrence of neural tube defects (NTDs) in     chick embryo.
  
  
  METHODS
  60 Fertile, specific eggs of Fyoumi species     of chick were selected at zero hr of incubation. They were incubated at 37.5 °C     and 75% relative humidity until the embryos reached stage eight of development.     At this stage the eggs were divided into four groups consisting of 15     eggs/group. The 1st group was incubated without any operation. The 2nd group was     injected with physiological saline. The 3rd and 4th groups were injected with     HDP (20x physiologic dose of progesterone) and HDP with supplement of 5     micrograms/embryo of FA, respectively. After 48 hrs of incubation, all embryos     were reviewed for the presence of NTDs under light microscopy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  None of     the eggs in the control, and saline injection groups showed NTDs, whereas 75 %     (9/12) of the embryos in the 3rd group, and 58.3 % (7/12) of the chick embryos     in 4th group showed NTDs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Exogenous progesterone at levels twenty     times above its physiologic range in chick embryos causes NTDs. FA     supplementation decreases the frequency of NTDs but does not abolish them.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Army Medical College, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. iramiqbal10@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Iram
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Iqbal
authors.forename: Khadija
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Qamar
authors.forename: Shadab Ahmad
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Butt
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hayder
authors.forename: Ifra
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saeed
authors.forename: Umbreen
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Noor
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007267:Injections; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011374:Progesterone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology; D014815:Vitamins / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins; D011374:Progesterone; D005492:Folic Acid