Morphological analysis of neonates of rats treated with dexamethasone in the initial phase of pregnancy/Analisis morfologico de neonatos de ratas tratadas con dexametasona en fase inicial de la prenez

The glucocorticoid dexamethasone has been largely used due to its anti-inflammatory effect. However, several authors report that the excessive exposition to it during pregnancy may cause a retard in the development in several tissues, mainly: liver, lungs and kidneys. But, the majority of the works are done with the application of dexamethasone in the late periods of pregnancy. Because of the lack of researches that evaluate the effects in the beginning of gestation, this paper aimed at evaluating the effect of dexamethasone administered in the initial phase of pregnancy, over the morphology of neonates rat. It was used 10 albino rats (Rattus norvegicus albinus) aged 90 days from the lineage Wistar. The female were coupled and divided in two groups: Group I-- rats not submitted to the dexamethasone application (control); Group II--rats submitted to the dexamethasone application in the first 5 days of pregnancy. The results show that the treatment with dexamethasone in a dosage of 0.8mg/Kg during the 5 first days of pregnancy does not produces a weight and height reduction or malformation in the offspring, it does not cause changes in the development of the liver and kidneys of neonate rats, but it leads to a reduction in the denseness of the interalveolar septa causing a higher distension of the alveoli. KEY WORDS: Pregnancy; Dexamethasone; Histology; Rats. El glucocorticoide dexametasona ha sido ampliamente utilizado en virtud de su potencial antiinflamatorio. Sin embargo, varios autores relatan que la exposicion excesiva a la dexametasona durante la prenez puede causar el retardo del desarrollo de varios tejidos, principalmente higado, pulmones y rinones. La mayoria de los trabajos son llevados a cabo con la aplicacion de dexametasona en los periodos tardios de la gestacion. El objetivo del trabajo fue evaluar el efecto de la dexametasona, sobre la morfologia de ratones neonatos, administrada en la fase inicial de la prenez. Fueron utilizadas 10 ratas Wistar albinas (Rattus norvegicus albinus) con 90 dias de edad. Las hembras fueron apareadas y divididas en dos grupos: Grupo I--ratas no sometidas a la dexametasona (grupo control) y Grupo II--ratas sometidas a la aplicacion de dexametasona durante los cinco primeros dias de prenez. Los resultados mostraron que el tratamiento con dexametasona en dosis de 0,8mg/Kg, a lo largo de los cinco primeros dias de la prenez, no produce reduccion de peso, longitud o malformacion en la prole, tampoco causa alteracione