Effects of retinoic acid exposure in utero on mouse vibrissal follicle development

It is known that topical all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) modulates growth and differentiation of skin and its cutaneous appendages. To examine whether a pre-natal exposure to a potentially non-teratogenic dosage of all-trans-RA had any effect on vibrissal follicle development, the histologic and immunohistochemical responses to RA during its morphogenesis in NMRI mouse were investigated. After a single oral dose of 30 mg/kg body weight of all-trans-RA on day 11.5 of gestation, no fetal malformations were detected and the histological features and the distribution of keratin (K) proteins in comparable stages of vibrissal development were similar for the untreated, vehicle-treated and RA-treated mice. The absence of teratogenic response and of adverse effects on the vibrissae under the experimental conditions indicates that this protocol may be useful for investigation of the effects of pre-natal exposure to RA on the post-natal development of experimental tumours in the mouse skin.