Teratogenicity screening in standardized chick embryo culture: Effects of dexamethasone and diphenylhydantoin

Summary Teratogenic and toxic effects of DXM and DPH were tested using a standardized chick embryo culture. Survival, growth and malformations were scored with respect to the drug concentrations used. DXM (>10^–8 mol/l) inhibited the differentiation of the extraembryonic blood circulation and induced craniofacial anomalies. DPH (>1.5 10^–5 mol/l) induced cardiomegaly, craniofacial and somitic anomalies. Both drugs were lethal at 10^–3 mol/l. Comparison of results obtained with 8 drugs shows that the method has a good discriminative power and specificity and that it can be used as a simple, reliable and economical primary screening test, making it possible to reduce the use of animals in toxicological studies.Supported by the grant 4.790.0.84.17 from the Swiss National Science Foundation.