Effects of alcohol during secondary neurulation in chick embryos

Abstract

Objective: Alcohol continues to be consumed even though its harmful effecs are well established. One of the most common damage of alcohol consumption is fetal alcohol syndrome, characterized by craniofacial anomalies, cardiac anomalies and neural tube defects. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the alcohol-induced toxicity that occur with time and dose dependent manner is very important., Most of the studies in order to understand the effects of alcohol have been carried out on early neurulation, however its effects on late neurulation are still unknown. Therefore in this study, effects of alcohol on secondary neurulation were investigated in chick embryos. Methods: Leghorn breed of embryonic chicken eggs were used. At 50 h of incubation, 100 mu L 50% ethanol solution was injected. Depending on the period of exposure to alcohol, varying degrees of pathological disorders were detected in E3, E7 and E10 days. Results: Developmental delay, structural abnormalities, morphological abnormalities in the heart and face and especially presence of two spinal cord cavities were found. In addition, we also detected delays in the closure of the neural tube, cellular deformities and the structural abnormalities in notochord. While eNOS, iNOS, and TUNEL levels increased, while laminin levels decreased. Conclusion: In this study during late development, significant alcohol-induced morphological and histopathological changes were observed. We also determined Increased level of oxidative stress caused by alcohol was accompanied with the changes in matrix composition. Better understanding of these mechanisms which affect the cell behavior is important and will allow learning of harmful effects of alcohol.