Abstract
The teratogenic potential of caffeine was examined in vitro by a whole embryo culture system (WECS) and an embryonic cell culture system (mi(:romas teratogen assay: MTA) in the rat. In the WECS, hyperemia of the tail, and a reducion of the placental size was induced by caffeir]e at concentrations higher than 50 pg/ml; hypoplasia of the forelimb bud was induced at concentrations higher than lOO /Lg/ml; hematoma in the yolk sac and dysmorphogenesis of the fore- and hind-limb buds, prosencephalon and tail were induced by 200 pg/ml caffeinc:. In the MTA, even with 200 pg/ml caffeine, the toxicological parameters obtained by proliferation and differentiation assays of the midbrain and limb bud cells were almost the same as in the contro1. In conclusion, caffeine induced various morPho1o9ical anomalies, but did not affect Proliferation or differentiation of cells in these experimental systems.
