Effect of Clarithromycin administration on pregnant albino rats during the cleavage period of gestation and on their embryos

Background: Clarithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic used to treat common infections including respiratory tract, skin and Helicobacter pylori. This work investigates whether the administration of clarithromycin to pregnant females during the cleavage phase of gestation was associated with a risk of miscarriages and offspring morphological malformation and skeletal anomalies, histological changes and DNA fragmentation of embryos and liver of pregnant rats. Two major groups of pregnant albino rats were used. The animals of the control group received distilled water from the 1[st] to 7[th] days of gestation.One subgroup [C1] was sacrificed on the 8[th] day; and the other [C2] was sacrificed on the 20[th] day of gestation. The treated group was drenched 45 mg/kg clarithromycin [therapeutic dose] suspension from 1[st] to 7[th] day of gestation. The first subgroup [T1] was sacrificed on the 8th day and the other [T2] was sacrificed on the 20th day of gestation

Results: The obtained results showed a decrease in maternal body weight gain, increase in the rate of abortion, resorption and growth retardation of fetuses and some malformation in the skeletal system of the treated group. Histopathological studies of pregnant and fetal rats revealed congestion and dilatation of the central vein, fatty degeneration of the hepatocytes and severe DNA fragmentation

Comparison of embryonic development in cleavage stage mouse embryo biopsy between acid Tyrode's solution and laser assisted techniques.

The study was carried out to determine the effectiveness and safety of the infrared 1.48 microm laser in cleavage stage mouse embryo biopsy, compared to the conventional acid Tyrode's solution. One hundred and thirty cryopreserved cleavage stage mouse embryos were included in the study. Fifty embryos were biopsied by acid Tyrode's solution. Forty-seven embryos were biopsied by the infrared 1.48 microm laser. Thirty-three embryos were incubated without biopsy as the control group. Thirteen of 50 embryos in the acid Tyrode's group and 16 of 47 in the laser assisted group became cavitating morulae on day 4, meanwhile 23 of 33 in the control group reached this stage. The blastocyst formation of acid Tyrode's, laser assisted and control group were 94.0, 97.8 and 100.0 per cent, respectively. The hatching rate of acid Tyrode's solution, laser assisted and control group were 78.7, 84.7 and 63.6 per cent, respectively. No significant difference in blastocyst formation and hatching rate was found. The percentage of grade I blastocysts in control group (96.9%) was significantly higher than those in acid Tyrode's solution (68.0%) and the laser assisted group (76.0%). There was no significant difference in the percentage of grade 1 blastocysts between the acid Tyrode's solution and the laser assisted group. In conclusion, the infrared 1.48 microm wavelength laser may be an alternative to acid Tyrode's solution in embryo biopsy.