In vitro study of the toxic and teratogenic effects of prednisolone, azathioprine and mycophenolate mofetile on embryological development of rats

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the glucocorticoid prednisolone, the mycophenolic acid prodrug, azathioprine, and the fungi fermentation end product, mycophenolate mofetile on the embryological development of rats. Nine day-old rat embryos were cultured in rat serum containing prednisolone at varying concentrations (5–30 µg/ml) for 48 h. The test groups were cultured separately in rat serum containing 0.3–10 µg/ml azathioprine and 1–10 µg/ml mycophenolate mofetile. Embryonic development parameter effects of both drugs in combination with prednisolone (20 µg/ml) were studied using morphological methods, with special attention given to the incidence of malformations. The genotoxic effects of agents evaluated with the TUNEL test revealed that prednisolone is not a cause of developmental toxicity. The maximum safe dose of prednisolone that could be used in combination with other immunosuppressive agents was determined to be 20 µg/ml. Azathioprine was found to be toxic and teratogenic for the rat embryos beginning at a dose of 1 µg/ml. Dose-dependent toxic and teratogenic effects of mycophenolate mofetile were detected at doses lower than normal clinical ones.

Keywords:

• Azathioprine
• mycophenolate mofetile
• prednisolone
• TUNEL assay
• whole embryo culture

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by Scientific Research Project Commission of Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey [Grant no. 10401118].