Abstract
The effect of transplacental administration of ethylurethan on the mitotic activity in the hand plates of mouse embryos was investigated. On the 12th day of gestation, 10% ethylurethan was injected intraperitoneally to pregnant mice, and on various hours up to 7 hours after injection, a number of precartilage cells in each stage of mitoses was counted. In 7 hours after administration, a conspicuous decrease of mitoses was recognized in all the stages. Namely, ethylurethan may have shown the effect of the trypaflavin type toxins.
It may be considered that digital malformations of embryos induced by injection of ethylurethan was caused by the inhibition of mitotic activity in the cells of the bone primordia of digits.
