1977 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 149-159
Pregnant Wistar rats received a single oral dose of 70 μCi/20mg/3ml/kg of 14C-labelled furylfuramide on the 20th day of gestation, and the radioactivity in maternal and fetal tissues was measured. High radioactivity was observed in the maternal liver and kidney at 3 hours after the administration, and the radioactivity of the maternal serum was lower than that of these two organs, but higher than that in other organs including placenta. The fetal body level of the radioactivity was about one-seventh of the maternal serum and about 0.4% of the dosed radioactivity was distributed in the fetuses. Dietary furylfuramide at the levels of 0.02, 0.06, 0.2 and 0.6% was given to pregnant Wistar rats ad libitum during pregnancy, and its teratogenic effects were examined in the fetuses and offspring. With the highest dose level a marked suppression in the maternal weight gain and food and water consumptions, and a considerable retardation in the embryonic developments were observed. A dose-dependent increase in the maternal liver weights was also noticed in the furylfuramide treated groups compared with the control. However, no evidences of increase in fetal death as well as malformation to be attributable to the treatment of furylfuramide were obtained, and the postnatal developments of the newborns were well maintained without any disorders in morphological and functional examinations.
