اثرات مصرف داروي سديم والپروآت برقه ، وزن و طول استخوانهاي اندام جنين هاي متعلق به موشهاي حامله تحت تزريق اين دارو

Height, weight and limb bonesʹ length of the embryos of pregnant mice injected by sodium valproate

Background and aim: Valproic acid (and its salt, sodium valproate) is one of the drugs that has been widely used for treatment of epileptic patients during the recent decades. The aim of this study was to find the effects of the drug on the morphological characteristics (such as height and weight) and limb bones of mouse embryo. Methods: Case group consisted of 8 pregnant mice that on the ninth day of their gestation, sodium valproate (200 mg/kg) was intraperitonealy injected at three consecutive times (at 0, 6, 12 hours). Seven pregnant mice were injected by distilled water as the control group. On the 18th day of gestation, pregnant mice of both groups were killed by cervical dislocation and their embryos were removed. The embryosʹ height and weight were measured. Then some of embryos were used for Alizarin red & Alciane blue staining. By this method of staining soft tissues would become clear, cartilages become blue and bones turn to red. In stained embryos, the lengths of limb bones were measured. Results: Height and weight of the case group was significantly less than those of the control group. Also, the length of femoral, tibial, fibular, humeral, radial and ulnar bones was significantly less in the case group. Conclusion: Administration of sodium valproate during pregnancy decreases the height and weight of embryos and could cause delay in growth of the limb bones, therefore should not be used during pregnancy.