Biomaterial Database

Teratogenic effect of lambda-carrageenan on the chick embryo. 1981

B Monis, and R A Rovasio

Carrageenans are widely used as food additives. Thus, it seemed of interest to test their possible teratogenic action. For this purpose, 530 chick eggs were injected in the yolk sac with 0.1 ml of a solution of 0.1% lambda-carrageenan in 0.9% sodium chloride. As controls, 286 eggs were injected with 0.1 ml of 9.0% sodium chloride. In addition, 284 eggs received no treatment. After incubation for 48--50 hours at 39 degrees C, embryos were fixed, cleared, and observed with a stereoscopic microscope. The frequency of abnormal embryos in the group receiving lambda-carrageenan was higher than in the controls (p less than 0.04). Partial duplication of the body, abnormal flexures of the trunk, anencephaly, a severely malformed brain, thickening of the neural tube wall, an irregular neural tube lumen with segmentary occlusion and a reduction in crown-rump length and number of somites were distinctly seen in the lambda-carrageenan-injected group. Moreover, the average number of anomalies per embryo in the lambda-carrageenan-injected group was nearly twice that in the controls. Present data indicate that lambda-carrageenan has teratogenic effects on early stages of the development of the chick embryo.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D002351	Carrageenan	A water-soluble extractive mixture of sulfated polysaccharides from RED ALGAE. Chief sources are the Irish moss CHONDRUS CRISPUS (Carrageen), and Gigartina stellata. It is used as a stabilizer, for suspending COCOA in chocolate manufacture, and to clarify BEVERAGES.	Carrageenin,iota-Carrageenan,kappa-Carrageenan,lambda-Carrageenan,iota Carrageenan,kappa Carrageenan,lambda Carrageenan
D002642	Chick Embryo	The developmental entity of a fertilized chicken egg (ZYGOTE). The developmental process begins about 24 h before the egg is laid at the BLASTODISC, a small whitish spot on the surface of the EGG YOLK. After 21 days of incubation, the embryo is fully developed before hatching.	Embryo, Chick,Chick Embryos,Embryos, Chick
D004305	Dose-Response Relationship, Drug	The relationship between the dose of an administered drug and the response of the organism to the drug.	Dose Response Relationship, Drug,Dose-Response Relationships, Drug,Drug Dose-Response Relationship,Drug Dose-Response Relationships,Relationship, Drug Dose-Response,Relationships, Drug Dose-Response
D004353	Drug Evaluation, Preclinical	Preclinical testing of drugs in experimental animals or in vitro for their biological and toxic effects and potential clinical applications.	Drug Screening,Evaluation Studies, Drug, Pre-Clinical,Drug Evaluation Studies, Preclinical,Drug Evaluations, Preclinical,Evaluation Studies, Drug, Preclinical,Evaluation, Preclinical Drug,Evaluations, Preclinical Drug,Medicinal Plants Testing, Preclinical,Preclinical Drug Evaluation,Preclinical Drug Evaluations,Drug Screenings,Screening, Drug,Screenings, Drug
D000014	Abnormalities, Drug-Induced	Congenital abnormalities caused by medicinal substances or drugs of abuse given to or taken by the mother, or to which she is inadvertently exposed during the manufacture of such substances. The concept excludes abnormalities resulting from exposure to non-medicinal chemicals in the environment.	Drug-Induced Abnormalities,Abnormalities, Drug Induced,Abnormality, Drug-Induced,Drug Induced Abnormalities,Drug-Induced Abnormality
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013723	Teratogens	An agent that causes the production of physical defects in the developing embryo.	Embryotoxins,Fetotoxins,Teratogen