Increased TNF-alpha expression in cultured mouse embryos exposed to teratogenic concentrations of glucose

Diabetes-induced early embryonic death is accompanied by an increased expression of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in the embryonic microenvironment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether diabetes-induced embryopathic stress may also alter the expression of TNF-alpha produced by the embryo itself. As a model, whole postimplantation embryos were cultured for 24 h in a medium with high concentrations of glucose, one of the main diabetes-associated teratogenic metabolites. An anomaly such as an open neural tube was used as an end-point characterizing the glucose-induced teratogenic effect and the number of somites was counted to evaluate growth retardation induced by glucose. The expression of TNF-alpha (by immunohistochemistry), apoptosis (by TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling; TUNEL) and the activity of caspases 3 and 8 (by a fluorometric assay) were evaluated in normal and malformed embryos. Ninety-seven per cent of the embryos exposed to 1300 mg glucose dl(-1) exhibited an open neural tube. The percentage of malformed embryos was smaller in media containing 800 and 500 mg glucose dl(-1) (68 and 37%, respectively) but it still exceeded significantly the value registered in embryos developing in a normoglycaemic medium (12%). In addition, a significant decrease in the number of somites was observed in embryos developing in media containing 1300 and 800 mg glucose dl(-1). Malformed embryos exhibited a greater number of nuclei that were positive in the TUNEL assay as well as a higher amount of active caspase 8 compared with normal embryos (with closed neural folds). TNF-alpha expression was detected in the neuroepithelial layer of the neural tube of the malformed embryos, whereas the expression of this cytokine was weak, if detectable, in normal embryos. Together, these findings indicate that TNF-alpha produced by the embryo may be involved in regulating the response of embryos to diabetes-generated embryopathic stress.