Mechanism of aspirin induced neural tube defect in chick embryo

The effect of acetyl salicylic acid (aspirin) on neural tube development in chick embryo was studied, using the chick embryo blastoderm model. Aspirin was injected in four different doses sub-blastodermally into fresh embryonated eggs. The role of PGE1 and PGE2 alpha in the defect induced by aspirin on neural tube development in chick embryo was studied. PGE1 (5 micrograms) given after aspirin (30 micrograms) treatment was found to produce greater defect in development. All the four doses of aspirin used (i.e., 6, 30, 60 and 120 micrograms/embryo) produced significant changes (P < 0.01) in the neural tube development of chick embryo. Pre-treatment with PGE1 did not modify the defect induced by aspirin, whereas pre-treatment with PGF2 alpha prevented neural tube defects induced by aspirin. It appears that aspirin (in the doses used) affects neural tube formation by decreasing PGF2 alpha synthesis in chick embryo blastoderm.