EFFECT OF GAMMA-IRRADIATION ON PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE TONGUE IN CD-1 MICE

Development of the tongue in murine fetuses, in which the dams were exposed to whole body gamma-irradiation (400 rads) on the 12th day postcoitum, was studied and compared with unirradiated controls. Experimental and control groups were killed on day 18 of gestation and the fetuses were removed via laparotomy. The fetal heads were excised, fixed in Bouin's solution, prepared for paraffin sectioning, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin for light microscopic examination. Histologic examination of serial coronal sections demonstrated that ail of the experimental fetuses possessed malformed, poorly developed tongues, when compared to those of the control group. It was concluded that gamma-irradiation has an adverse effect on tongue development in mouse fetuses.