title: Prenatal effects of retinoic acid on lumbar spinal cord development and liver antioxidants in rats.
abstract: During embryonic and early postnatal development, retinoic acid (RA) regulates genes that control neuronal differentiation and neurite outgrowth from the neural tube. The effects of high levels of RA on the CNS can be detected via nitric oxide (NO), which plays a crucial role in neural transmission. The aim of the study was to investigate the prenatal influence of high levels of RA on postnatal development of nitrergic structures in lumbar spinal cord and antioxidant status. RA was administered orally at a dose of 10mg/kg body weight to pregnant female Wistar rats during days 8-10 of gestation. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) of lumbar spinal cord sections was processed for visualization via nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemistry on postnatal day one, day twenty-one and in adults. The results suggest that prenatal administration of high levels of RA is not associated with postnatal morphological changes in nNOS-positive neurons in the rat lumbar spinal cord. An estimation of the activity of enzymes related to the storage of retinoid in the liver showed possible side effects. Suppression and deepening of superoxide dismutase activity persisted into adulthood, and a concurrent downregulation of glutathione reductase was noted. A decrease in reduced glutathione persisted until adulthood when other compensatory mechanisms were probably active to maintain an appropriate level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Clinical Biochemistry, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Faculty of Medicine, Trieda SNP 1, 040 66 Košice, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Janka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vašková
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, University of Presov in Presov, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Science, Ul. 17 novembra č. 1, 081 16 Prešov, Slovak Republic. Electronic address: peter.patlevic@unipo.sk.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Patlevič
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Clinical Biochemistry, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Faculty of Medicine, Trieda SNP 1, 040 66 Košice, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Ladislav
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vaško
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Faculty of Medicine, Šrobárova 2, 041 80 Košice, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Darina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kluchová
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology; D008161:Lumbosacral Region / Q000196:embryology*; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000196:embryology; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D014212:Tretinoin; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase
keywords: Liver; Lumbar spinal cord; Neuronal nitric oxide; Postnatal development; Rat; Retinoic acid