Is it possible to prevent cleft palate by prenatal administration of folicacid? An experimental study

Objective: In this study, folic acid was tested for its antiteratogenic eff ects on experimentally induced cleft palate in animals. Design: Eleven pregnant Lew 1 A darns (75 fetuses) received 200 mg/kg proca rbazine via gastric tubing on postconception (p.c.) day 14 to induce a clef t palate (CP); seven of the pregnant dams (45 fetuses) were additionally gi ven 4 mg/kg folic acid subcutaneously from the 14th to the 17th day p.c. As a control group, three more pregnant darns (24 fetuses) were not treated w ith the drugs mentioned above. All fetuses were delivered by Caesarian sect ion on day 20 p.c. Outcomes measured: All fetuses were weighed and examined macroscopically wi th a stereomicroscope. Each fetal head was cut into 35 frontal sections and scrutinized histologically. Results: None of the control fetuses (n = 24) exhibited a cleft. Without fo late administration, 90% of the fetuses (27 of 30) that received procarbazi ne exhibited a CP, After additional prenatal folate administration, this ra te remained virtually unchanged (91%; 41 of 45). However, the proportion of complete (total) CP (4%) was significantly (p < .0001) lower than in the g roup without folate (53%). Cleft-associated microgenia and microglossia wer e also significantly less frequent when folate was administered prenatally: microgenia was reduced by 22% (p = .029) and microglossia by 24% (p = .032 ). Conclusions: On the basis of these results, folate has a partial ameliorati ng effect on the teratogenicity of procarbazine given to pregnant rats. Add itional studies are necessary on the effect of folate in different species, also taking cleft lip and CP into consideration.