embryo toxicitic effects of ranitidine

in this work, we tried to know something more about the embryotoxicity effects of the doses of 50, 200, 400 mg/kg/day of ranitidine of (h2 antihistaminic agent) by intraperitoneal administration on mice. the studies were performed on albino mice kept under specific conditions and a constant dark-light cycle at 24+1c and 55+5% relative humidity. generally, the animals were acclimatized for four weeks before mating. two female mice at 12-14 weeks of age were placed overnight with a male of proven fertility. the day on which a vaginal plug was found, was taken as day one of pregnancy. also the vaginal smear was prepared for further proof. treatment of pregnant females was started from day 7 and continued up to the 15th day of gestation and then on day 18 they were necropsied for routine teratological observations. the live fetuses were weighed and inspected for gross external abnormalities under a dissecting microscope. resorption plus dead fetuses less than 6mm of length were designated early death and dead fetuses of more than 6mm of length were consequently called late death. the statistical study was done by student t-test. one-third of the fetuses were fixed in bouin's fluid to detect visceral malformations by the rasor- section technique. there was no significant difference in the frequency of late death between the control groups and the groups given ranitidine. differences were observed in the number of implantation sites except for 400 mg/kg/day. data pooled from all experimental groups clearly show that pig tail, deformed cranium, low body weight and skeleton, unshaped external ear and jaw and polydactyly are the most common external abnormalities. results of this study show the hazards o the ranitidine used during early pregnancy.