Effects of administration of alpha interferon in mice during pregnancy, on the livers of the mothers and offsprings. A histological and ultrastructural study

In this work, five non-pregnant mice were used as a negative control group to study the normal basic structure of the liver; two groups of pregnant mice, each included ten animals, were also used. In the first pregnant group, the animals were injected subcutaneously with alpha interferon at a daily dose of 150,000 IU/kg b. wt. from the first day of pregnancy till the time of delivery; while, in the second pregnant group, the animals were injected by an equivalent amount of sterile water for the same period of the first group. At the day of delivery, half of the mothers of each group were sacrificed, while the other half were left to suckle the offsprings. From the offsprings of each group, six pups were randomly chosen to be sacrificed after one day and another six after three weeks of delivery. From all the studied animals, liver samples were taken and processed for light and electron microscopic examination