The effect of trypan blue on the serum proteins of the fetal rat Supported by research grant AM-05603-03 from the National Institute of Metabolic Diseases, Public Health Service, U. S. Department of health, Education, and Welfare.

Abstract

Pregnant rats were injected intraperitoneally with a teratogenic dose of trypan blue (14 mg/100 g or 20 mg/100 g body weight) on the eighth day of gestation. Fetal blood was collected from control and experimental fetuses on the twentieth day of pregnancy. Serum was obtained from pooled blood samples of two to three fetuses. Paper electrophoresis was carried out in a Spinco model R system using barbital buffer at pH 8.6. The paper strips were subsequently stained with bromphenol blue and their density measured in a Spinco Analytrol to determine the relative concentration of each component. Total protein was measured in a Bausch and Lomb Serum Protein Meter. The predominant malformations seen in abnormal fetuses were apparent anophthalmia, 59%; hydrocephalus, 37%; and exencephaly, 19%. Other malformations were noted but with less frequency. Twenty-day fetuses from trypan blue treated mothers had a significantly lower total protein concentration (1.50 g/100 ml) than control fetuses (1.95 g/100 ml). A comparison of the absolute protein concentration of the serum fractions revealed significant differences between control and experimental fetuses in beta globulin, alpha-1 globulin, and albumin. In each instance the absolute concentration was less in the fraction from fetuses of trypan blue treated mothers. Fetal gamma, alpha-2, and alpha-3 globulins were not affected by the maternal treatment.