To investigate the effect of diazepam on fetal development in pregnant rats, this experiment was performed in eighty Sprague-Dawley female rats which were 8 weeks old and grouped into two according to different diazepam treatment period during 5-9 days of gestation and 10-14 days of gestation. Both experimental groups were included by saline treated groups (control) and diazepam-treated groups (6㎎, 12㎎ and 24㎎), respectively. Diazepam was injected to pregnant rats subcutaneously, which were sacrified on 20 days of gestation and mean litter size, fetal body weight, fetal crown-rump length (CRL) and pathological findings were examined.
1. Concerning mean litter size, diazepam-treated groups showed lower mean litter size than control in both 5-9 days and 10-14 days of gestation groups(p $lt; 0.05) without difference according to dosage of diazepam and day of gestation.
2. Concerning fetal body weight, diazepam-treated groups during 5-9 days of gestation showed lower fetal body weight than control and the other treated group during 10-14 days(p $lt; 0.01) without difference according to dosage of diazepam. Diazepam-treated group during 10-14 days of gestation showed no difference among experimented groups.
3. Concerning fetal crown-rump length (CRL), diazepam-treated groups during 5-9 days of gestation showed shorter CRL than control and the other treated group during 10-14 days of gestation(p $lt; 0.01) without difference according to dosage of diazepam.
4. Reduction of mean litter size, fetal body weight and CRL was shown from when treated by the dosage of 6㎎/㎏ of diazepam.
5. Maternal mortality according to dosage of the 20㎎/㎏ of diazepam were 30% and 20% in the treated group during 5-9 days and 10-14 days of gestation, respectively.
These results indicated that diazepam treatment in pregnant rats caused considerable reduction of mean litter size, fetal body weight and fetal crown-rump length when treated during 5-9 days of gestation.
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