Effects of Oral Morphine on the Neural Tube Development in Obstetric Rats Embryo

Previous studies have shown that morphine administration could produced behavioral defects in human and also animal. In the present study, the effects of maternal morphine consumption on neural tube development in rats has been investigated.

Female wistar rats (250-300g body weight) were crossed with male rats. Experimental groups were received 0.1, 0.05 and 0.01 mg/ml of morphine in drinking water daily (14 ml water for each rat). Control group received tap water. 9 days and 12 h after the onset of pregnancy, the animals were anesthetized by chloroform and the embryos were taken out surgically. Weight of embryos were determined by a digital balance and their length (Antero-Posterior axis-[AP]) as a criterion for embryos length were determined by a caliper. Then embryos were fixed in 10% formalin and tissues were proccessed, sectioned and stained by H&E staining. These sections were investigated for neural tube development by light microscope.

Decrease in "AP" length and embryonic weight in group that received 0.01 mg/ml of morphine was significant. Neural tube was observed in control group. Daily consumption of morphine sulfate in dosage 0.1, 0.05 and 0.01 mg/ml could delay the neural tube development. In addition, dose 0.01 mg/ml of morphine lead to damaged in regulated neuro-ectoderm layer and its thickness. Concluion: This study showed that oral morphine consumption lead to neural tube defects.