Studies on the teratogenicity of anabasine in a rat model

A number of plant toxins have been shown to be teratogenic to livestock. The teratogenic action of some of these alkaloids is mediated by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR). However, for many of these alkaloids it is difficult to obtain sufficient quantities of individual alkaloids to perform...

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Published in:	Toxicon (Oxford) Vol. 87; pp. 32 - 37
Main Authors:	Welch, K.D., Lee, S.T., Panter, K.E., Gardner, D.R., Knoppel, E.L., Green, B.T., Hammond, C.K., Hammond, Z.J., Pfister, J.A.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England Elsevier Ltd 01-09-2014
Subjects:	abnormal development Abnormalities, Drug-Induced - pathology agonists Alkaloids Anabasine Anabasine - toxicity animal models Animals asphyxia body weight Body Weight - drug effects Bones carbon dioxide cattle cesarean section cholinergic receptors cleft palate dams (mothers) Dose-Response Relationship, Drug Eating - drug effects Feeding Female goats Livestock Male Nicotiana glauca Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor oral administration phytotoxins Plant toxins Pregnancy pups Rat Rats Reproduction - drug effects Rodents scoliosis sheep Teratogen Teratogenicity Teratogens - toxicity Toxins Toxins, Biological - toxicity ultrasonography Teratogen Rat Anabasine Plant toxins Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
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Summary:	A number of plant toxins have been shown to be teratogenic to livestock. The teratogenic action of some of these alkaloids is mediated by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR). However, for many of these alkaloids it is difficult to obtain sufficient quantities of individual alkaloids to perform teratology studies in livestock species. Therefore the objective of this study was to determine if a rat model can be utilized to characterize the teratogenic nature of individual plant toxins that are nAChR agonists. In this study, we evaluated the teratogenicity of anabasine by feeding pregnant rats anabasine-containing rodent chow from gestational day (GD) 6–21. On GD21, the dams were euthanized and the gravid uteri were removed. The gravid uteri and individual pups were weighed. The pups were evaluated for bone malformations including cleft palate and scoliosis. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the rat is not a good model to study the teratogenicity of plant toxins that are nAChR agonists. It is possible that in the rat model, anabasine administered orally via the chow may not result in sufficient reduction in fetal movement to cause the significant malformations observed in livestock species. •Pregnant rats fed chow containing high concentrations of anabasine eat less and have smaller pups.•Oral administration of anabasine via the chow does not result in complete inhibition of fetal movement in rats.•Oral administration of anabasine via the chow does not cause cleft palate formation in rat pups.•Rats are not a useful model to study the teratogenicity of piperidine alkaloids.
Bibliography:	http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/62813 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2014.05.018 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0041-0101 1879-3150
DOI:	10.1016/j.toxicon.2014.05.018