Abstract
Pregnant Wistar rats were injected i.p. with 5-azacytidine (5AzC) at 11 day of gestation. Brain cell apoptosis determined morphologically or by TUNEL method was observed in the fetuses 3 hrs after injection. Eight to 100% of the fetuses were dead at 1 to7 day after injection. Injection with doses less than 5 mg/kg of 5AzC killed only a few fetuses, though neuronal apoptosis was detected in most of living fetuses. All fetuses were dead when their dams were injected with 5AzC at 9 or 10 day of gestation, whereas most of the fetuses were alive when injected after day 12. The present study revealed that 5AzC specifically induce neuronal apoptosis in rat fetuses at the stage of logarithmic growth.
