Exploring the caffeine-induced teratogenicity on neurodevelopment using early chick embryo.

ABSTRACT: Caffeine consumption is worldwide. It has been part of our diet for many centuries; indwelled in our foods, drinks, and medicines. It is often perceived as a "legal drug", and though it is known to have detrimental effects on our health, more specifically, disrupt the normal fetal development following excessive maternal intake, much ambiguity still surrounds the precise mechanisms and consequences of caffeine-induced toxicity. Here, we employed early chick embryos as a developmental model to assess the effects of caffeine on the development of the fetal nervous system. We found that administration of caffeine led to defective neural tube closures and expression of several abnormal morphological phenotypes, which included thickening of the cephalic mesenchymal tissues and scattering of som

SUBMITTER: Ma ZL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3314624 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature