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Embryopathic effects of the oral hypoglycemic agent chlorpropamide in cultured mouse embryos
1Department of Anatomy, Physiological Sciences, and Radiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27606.
Objectives:
The oral hypoglycemic agent chlorpropamide was evaluated for embryopathic effects in the mouse embryo model.
Study Design:
Mouse embryos (n = 10 to 31 per group) were exposed in whole embryo culture to serum from chlorpropamide-treated rats or chlorpropamide-supplemented control rat serum. Hypoglycemic serum from chlorpropamide-treated rats was supplemented with glucose to control for effects of hypoglycemia. Differences in malformation rates were evaluated by Fisher's exact test and numerical differences by analysis of variance.
Results:
Mouse embryos were malformed by > or = 24 micrograms/ml of chlorpropamide, embryonic protein content and somites were decreased by > or = 130 micrograms/ml of chlorpropamide, and visceral yolk sac protein was reduced by > 500 micrograms/ml of chlorpropamide. Similar development occurred in serum from chlorpropamide-treated rats and chlorpropamide-supplemented control serum, and growth was not improved by adding glucose.
Conclusions:
Chlorpropamide produces malformations and growth retardation in mouse embryos in vitro at concentrations overlapping therapeutic levels in humans. Chlorpropamide-induced defects are not mediated by hypoglycemia or by products of chlorpropamide metabolism.