Advance Access publication February 14, 2008 Reactive Oxygen Species Contribute to Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Teratogenesis in Mice

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been associated with adverse developmental outcome, including embryonic resorption, fetal death and growth retardation, and preterm delivery. In the present study, we showed that an ip injection with LPS daily from gestational day (gd) 8 to gd 12 resulted in the incidence of external malformations. The highest incidence of malformed fetuses was observed in fetuses from dams exposed to 20 mg/kg LPS, in which 34.9 % of fetuses per litter were externally malformed. In addition, 17.4 % of fetuses per litter in 30 mg/kg group and 12.5 % of fetuses per litter in 10 mg/kg group were externally malformed. Importantly, external malformations were also observed in fetuses from dams exposed to only two doses of LPS (20 mg/kg, ip) on gd 8, in which 76.5 % (13/17) of litters and 39.1 % of fetuses per litter were affected. LPS-induced teratogenicity seemed to be associated with oxidative stress in fetal environment, measured by lipi