Side preponderant forelimb defects of mouse fetuses induced by maternal treatment with adenine.

It has been demonstrated that adenine, a normal purine metabolite, is teratogenic in mice (Fujii, '70 Fujii and Nishimura, '70) and rat (Fujii and Nishimura, in press) if administered to the pregnant female at a high dose during the period of major organogenesis of the embryo. In the previous study (Fujii, '70), it was slightly suggested that forelimb defects by adenine in mice on day 10 of gestation occur in a side preponderant manner. The present paper deals mainly with the peculiar asymmetric phenomenon shown in the occurrence of forelimb defects, which were confirmed in our subsequent study.