Effect of Arsenic on Early Chick Development

Exposure to arsenic through drinking water is associated with the number of diseases including cancer, Increasing concentrations of toxic metals and chemicals, and their intake by humans and animals have become a major global concern of public health. Presence of these substances in drinking water is the major source of ingestion. Recent studies on pregnant females show the detrimental effects of arsenic ingestion through water. Arsenic causes fetal loss, low birth weight and miscarriages. However, the effects of arsenic using model organism is still understudied. In order to study the effects of arsenic on embryo, we have used chick embryo as model organism. Chick eggs were incubated in incubator at 37 centigrade, after 36 hours of incubation these eggs were taken out to determine the stage of chick embryo by Hamburger-Hamilton stages (HH). The embryos were treated with sodium arsenate dissolved in Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS-invitrogen) solution. After incubating the treated eggs for 24 hours, the embryos were taken out to observe the effects. Images were taken with Digital camera. The treatment of chick embryos with arsenic caused reduction in the weight and size of embryos treated with sodium arsenate than control (BSS treated) embryos. In addition, the survival rate of chick embryos treated with sodium arsenate was significantly lower. Moreover, defects in angiogenesis were also observed in sodium arsenate treated embryos. This suggests that arsenic might cause the defects of chick embryos at early stages.