Effect of ethinyl estradiol on development of mouse fetuses

Pregnant ICR/JCL mice were given orally 0.02, 0.3, or 2.0 mg/kg body weight/day of ethinyl estradiol in olive oil or vehicle alone on day 11 through day 17 of pregnancy. Pregnant mice of another group received a single oral dose of ethinyl estradiol on day 8 or day 11 of pregnancy. A lethal effect on fetuses of both groups with single and continuous exposure to ethinyl estradiol was observed in a dose-response relationship. Growth suppression of fetuses was only found at term in a dose-response relationship following continuous exposure to ethinyl estradiol. Hypertrophic nipples were seen in 42% of surviving female fetuses prenatally exposed to 2.0 mg/kg of ethinyl estradiol singly on day 11 of gestation. There was not an increase in other congenital malformations in any of the treated groups. These findings indicate that administered ethinyl estradiol can affect the developing mouse embryo but the embryotoxic doses in the mouse are substantially greater than the usual therapeutic or contraceptive doses in the human.