Abstract
Purpose: :
The eyes are especially vulnerable to toxic agents during development. Ethanol (EtOH) has been demonstrated to be a major teratogenic agent to the eyes and vision (Strömland and Pinazo-Durán Alcohol Alcoholism 2002) by producing malformations and dysfunctions.Further research is needed to achieve the mechanisms of action of EtOH "in utero", mainly in relation to the periods of susceptibility, the duration of exposure required to cause adverse foetal outcome, and the manifestations of the insult.
Methods: :
We utilized both fishes the wild-type Medaka (Oryzias latipes) and transgenic glial fluorescent protein (Ath5-GFP) at 48 h after fertilization, which were maintained in tanks under standard conditions and distributed into four groups: 1) wild-type Medaka (MC; n=14), 2) Ath-5 Medaka (Ath-5 MC; n=12); 3) Ath-5 Medaka + EtOH exposure (Ath-5 EtOH; n=15). The latter was exposed to increased EtOH concentrations (from 6%-to-7,5%) during 48 h. to microscopically examining and photographing morphological characteristics. Data were statistically processed by SPSS 15.0 program. Confidence interval was taken at 95%.
Results: :
There was a significant delay in optic primordial development in the EtOH exposed embryos than in the controls. The highest EtOH concentration, the more morphological and histoarchitectural eye and optic nerve changes. EtOH exposure induced as significant reduction in the eye (p<0,05) and optic nerve (p<0,05) size, disruption of retinal layering and decreased total retinal thickness (p<0,05), as compared to the controls
Conclusions: :
The Medaka fish represent a new model for analysing the series of adverse events occurring as a consequence of prenatal EtOH exposure in the eyes.
Keywords: development • drug toxicity/drug effects