Congenital Malformations in the Offspring of Alloxan-diabetic Mice

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Abstract
Pregnant females of the Phipps albino mouse colony were given a single intravenous injection of 100 mg. of alloxan per kilogram of body weight 8.5 to 13.5 days after copulation. Mean levels of blood sugar were 112 mg./100 ml. before treatment with alloxan and 437 mg./lOO ml. 48 hours afterwards, the range for treated mice being 205 to 906 mg./lOO ml. Of 144 pregnant mice, 35 died after alloxan injection and 19 had no living fetuses at laparotomy on the 19th day of pregnancy. This maternal-fetal mortality was marked after alloxan injection on the 9th, 10th and 11th days as compared with injection on the 12th, 13th and 14th days of pregnancy. Similarly the prevalence of cleft palate in the surviving young followed the same pattern that was demonstrated for maternal-fetal mortality. The rate of malformed fetusas with cleft palate dropped daily from almost 20% after alloxan injection on the 9th day to zero after injection on the 14th day of pregnancy. The type and frequency of induced deformities were dependent upon the timing of alloxan injection; occurrence of anomalies in general, and cleft palate in particular, being much more frequent in the offspring of mothers treated on the 9th to 11th days than on the 12th to 14th days of gestation.