Comparison of the teratogenic effects of mustine hydrochloride in rats and ferrets. The value of the ferret as an experimental animal in teratology

Abstract

Abstract The teratogenic effects on the offspring of ferrets given single sc injections of mustine hydrochloride on various days of gestation is described and compared with a smaller series of rats treated at similar stages of embryonic development. Distinct qualitative differences in the teratogenic responses of the 2 species were demonstrated. The predominant defects in ferrets were anophthalmia produced during early gastrulation, and tail abnormalities produced at the head‐process stage; whereas in rats the major deformities were limb defects and cleft palate and these resulted from treatment at the stage of the paddleshaped forelimb. The advantages of the ferret as an additional species for teratogenicity studies is discussed and methods of providing a continuously breeding colony required for such studies are described.