1986 Volume 88 Issue 2 Pages 167-172
Short term drug toxicities were investigated using cultures of mouse embryos in the early stage of development. These embryos were collected at the two- or eight-cell stage. They were exposed to bleomycin (Bl) or 6-mercaptopurine (MP) for 24 hr, thereafter, they were grown in BMOC-3 medium without these agents until the blastocyst stage. Total culturing period was 72 hr for the two-cell embryos and 48 hr for the eight-cell embryos. At the end of the culture periods, the number of cells, mitotic index and frequencies of sister chromatid exchange in these embryos after these exposures were unaltered. However, the death rate of embryos was elevated by the exposure to either Bl or MP. These agents are regarded as non-carcinogenic mutagens; therefore, it is suggested that these compounds are lethal to the embryos through an induction of mutation.
