Teratogenic effects of trypan blue on hamster embryos.

L I T T L E information is available in the literature on the susceptibility of the hamster embryo to teratogens. Desoxycorticosterone acetate apparently has some teratogenic activity (Tedford & Risely, 1950), but the degree and type of abnormality produced by this agent in the hamster have not been recorded. Orsini (1952) has described naturally-occurring urogenital anomalies which appear in females of a piebald strain of the golden hamster. The short gestation period, the accuracy of timed matings (Ward, 1946), and the large litter size make this animal an excellent one for embryological research on teratogens. The purpose of the present study was to determine the susceptibility of the hamster to the teratogenic effects of trypan blue and to learn what effects this dye had on other aspects of pregnancy and gestation. Neither the site nor the mode of action of this compound has been established. Failure to detect the dye in the embryonic tissues proper has led to hypotheses suggesting that some derangement of maternal physiology (Gillman et ah, 1948) or alterations in the permeability of the yolk-sac placenta, because of its peculiar affinity for the dye (Hamburgh, 1954), was responsible for the teratogenic activity. Observations on the placental transfer of trypan blue into the fluid of the young rabbit blastocyst (Ferm, 1956) introduce the possibility that the dye may have a direct teratogenic effect on the developing rabbit embryo.