The effect of oral administration of morphine on the development of neural plate in Wistar rats

Morphine administration produces several behavioral abnormalities in children and also in offspring animals, which is referred to as the effects of the drug on the development of the central nervous system. In the present study, the effect of maternal morphine consumption on the development of neural plate was investigated in Wistar rats (200-250 g). For this purpose, female rats (n = 8) were treated with morphine (0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 mg/ml of water) for 21 days. Then, the animals crossed with male rats and did not receive morphine until the 9th day of pregnancy. Thereafter, the animals were anesthetized by diethyl ether and the embryos were taken out surgically. The embryos were fixed in formalin (10%) for a week, and then, cross sectional procedure was performed. The sections were stained with H & E. The results showed that morphine administration to pregnant rats causes a delay in neural plate development in their embryos. In addition, morphine at a dose of 0.01 mg/ml produced the maximum effect. It can be concluded that morphine consumption before pregnancy delays neural plate development in rat embryos, which may also be true for humans.