Assessment of the protective potential of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) on ethanol-induced dysmorphogenesis in Gallus gallus domesticus embryos

• Main Authors: Carandang, Maria Bernadett, Lorenzo, Paolo Andrea
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: Vitamin C; Junglefowl > Spermatozoa—Morphology; Biology; Poultry or Avian Science
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/5307
• Institution: De La Salle University

The protective potential of Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) against ethanol-induced malformations was assessed. Specifically, it examined its protective effect on embryo quality by comparison of general morpho-anatomical features, morphometric analysis of the features and identification of peculiar characteristics. A total of ninety Gallus gallus domesticus embryos were divided into four groups, Negative Control 0 (without window), Negative Control 1 (with windows only), Ethanol Group (with 10% ETOH + window), and Treatment Group (with 10%ETOH + 0.07ml Ascorbic acid + window) and were incubated at 60% humidity and 38° C temperature for 21 days. Incubation was terminated on the 21st day (full gestation) for data gathering. The general morpho-anatomical observations showed that NC0 and NC1 did not manifest marked morphological differences, while EG exhibited apparently greater head-rump dimension and shorter beak lengths, forelimb and hind limb lengths compared to both control groups and TG. Occurrences of ectogastral opening, was the most peculiar characteristic noted, wherein EG manifested higher frequency (81%) and severity as compared with TG (67%). Decreased head-rump dimension, and longer forelimb and hind limb lengths were also observed in TG as compared with EG. Swollen metatarsals were manifested in both EG and TG. For wet weight, NC1 (30.13 + 1.8), EG (27.19 + 0.07) and TG (29.43 + 23.00) were found significantly different from NC0 (33.77 + 2.2), an indication of disturbances in the fertilized eggs as caused by the addition of windows. EG and TG, however, were found not significantly different from each other, though EG was lighter than TG. For body length, embryos from NC0 (138.14 + 5.1) and NC1 (135.00 + 1.2) were not significantly different from each other, while EG, as expected (127.44 + 5.5), was found significantly different from both control groups. This indicates that embryonic development, in terms of body length could be less sensitive to ethanol than body weight acquisition. Comparing EG and TG (133.44 + 5.1), no significant difference was found, though TG has a slightly longer mean body length than TG, similar to that of wet weight. For head size and beak length measurements, no significant differences were found among all the groups. These indicate that head and beak development seemed neither intensely affected by ethanol nor improved by Ascorbic acid (Vit. C) supplementation. For forelimb length, no significant differences were found among the groups, while for hind limb length, EG (67.44 + 4.8) was found significantly different from TG (73.88 + 6.0), NC0 (74.57 + 5.1), NC1 (74.63 + 2.5). This indicates that ethanol had a dysmorphogenic effect on the hind limb and that Ascorbic acid (Vit. C) was able to shield hind limb dysmorphogenesis. The timing of ethanol exposure could account for the more pronounced posterior malformations, that is the hind limb and ecto-gastral feature. In spite of the lack of statistically significant differences, the protective potential of Ascorbic acid (Vit. C) cannot be disregarded since an improvement in the generally observed morpho-anatomical features were evident.