Interlaboratory evaluation of embryotoxicity in the postimplantation rat embryo culture

The embryotoxicity of eight xenobiotic compounds in rat postimplantation whole embryo culture was blindly tested in four laboratories according to a standard protocol. The results show that the four nonteratogens amaranth, penicillin, isoniazid, and saccharin did not affect embryogenesis apart from general toxicity at very high concentrations in culture for amaranth and isoniazid. There was good concordance of results across the laboratories. The four teratogens (retinoic acid, 6-aminonicotinamide, acetylsalicylic acid, and vincristine) induced a variety of specific embryotoxic effects, which were in most cases similar in all laboratories. These results indicate that the definition for specific embryotoxicity used, as well as the culture duration and embryonic age are crucial for concordant scoring. Other methodologic differences did not significantly influence scoring of embryotoxicity. Therefore, within the limits of the end points and embryonic stage represented in the method, embryo culture appears as a useful method for embryotoxicity screening, which can be reproducibly applied in different laboratories.