Abstract

Although there is evidence that low doses of nicotine can affect glucose metabolism, questioning whether glucose can reduce the harmful effects of nicotine on embryo development may constitute an interesting research area. This study planned to investigate how concomitant administration of Glucose monohydrate modulates the effects of exposure to Nicotine sulfate on embryos of Xenopus leavis by using a 96-h FETAX test. To this purpose, in-vitro fertilized embryos were treated with nicotine and glucose, alone or in combination, and then examined in order to determine likely teratogenic consequences of those treatments. At the end of FETAX procedure, the ratios of normal, abnormal and dead embyos were determined and length of embryos were measured in all treatment groups. Nicotine alone treatment significantly increased the ratios of abnormal and dead embryos compared to controls. Concomitant treatment of glucose and nicotine slightly decreased the ratio of abnormals but increased the ratio of normal embryos in comparison with the results of nicotine alone treatment group. According to our results, the addition of Glucose to nicotine showed a protective effect on embryos embryos in concomitant treatment groups. Confirmation of these results needs similarly designed, more advanced studies.