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Effects of Whole Rat Embryos Cultured on Serum from Zinc- and Copper-Deficient Rats¹

Department of Animal Genetics, U-39, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06268 ^* Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA 95616

Whole rat embryos of 9.5 gestational days were cultured for 2 d on sera taken from rats fed diets deficient in zinc (0.5 µg Zn/g diet) or copper (0.6 µg Cu/g diet), or fed a control diet (100 µg Zn and 10 µg Cu per g diet). Head malformations were observed in embryos cultured on 12 of 16 zinc-deficient and 11 of 12 copper-deficient serum samples. The protein contents, crown-rump lengths (CRL) and percentages of head to CRL in these embryos were significantly smaller than those of embryos cultured on control serum. Copper and zinc were then added directly to 8 zinc- and 7 copper-deficient serum samples that had grown abnormal embryos. All subsequent cultured embryos had a normal appearance and protein content, CRL and head-to-CRL percentages comparable to controls, except one zinc embryo. These findings suggest that zinc and copper can act directly on embryonic development, and that whole rat embryo cultures can be used to detect deficiencies of these elements.

KEY WORDS: • whole embryo culture • teratogen testing • copper • zinc

¹ Supported in part by research grants from the Department of Energy, Office of Health and Environmental Research (EVO3139), the National Institutes of Health (HD-01743), Storrs Agriculture Experiment Station of the University of Connecticut, and the University of California.

² To whom reprint requests may be sent.

Manuscript received 4 October 1985. Revision accepted 11 August 1986.

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