Toxicity of 3′3-ditrifluormethyldiphenyl diselenide administered during intra-uterine development of rats

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of the organoselenium compound, 3′3-ditrifluormethyldiphenyl diselenide [(F3CPhSe)2], during the intra-uterine development of Wistar rats. Dams were given repeated doses of 1, 5 or 10 mg/kg (F3CPhSe)2 by intragastric route on gestation days 6–15, and cesarean sections were performed on day 20 of pregnancy. The numbers of implantation sites, living and dead fetuses and resorptions were recorded. Fetuses were weighed and stained with Alizarin red S for skeletal evaluation. The placental morphology was also evaluated. In 1 mg/kg (F3CPhSe)2 group, neither maternal toxicity nor prenatal growth retardation was observed. Conversely, in 5 and 10 mg/kg groups, there was a decrease in maternal weight gain during pregnancy indicating that (F3CPhSe)2 was maternally toxic, without affecting fetuses weight and length. (F3CPhSe)2 caused some morphological alterations in placenta of 5 and 10 mg/kg-exposed dams. Results also showed that skeletal variations were produced by (F3CPhSe)2 only at doses (10 mg/kg) in which a marked embryolethality was found. We conclude that (F3CPhSe)2 was toxic to the dams and induced embryofeto-toxicity at doses equal to 10 mg/kg.