The effects of ethanol on rat embryos developing in vitro.

A whole-embryo culture model has been developed as a means to study ethanol embryotoxicity. Ethanol exhibited a dose-related effect on Sprague-Dawley 10-day rat embryonic development over a 2-day culture period. Growth retardation was first detected at a concentration of 390 mg/100 ml and became more marked as the ethanol concentration was increased. At a concentration of 590 mg/100 ml there were signs of abnormal development and, since the embryos still appeared viable, that concentration was taken to be teratogenic. The possible significance of the high concentrations needed to cause effects in the present study in relation to rodent models of human ethanol embryotoxicity are discussed.