Limb defects in gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica) following postnatal injection with ethanol or saline

Because the hindlimbs of marsupials at birth are in an embryonic stage of development, this group can prove useful for studies of limb teratology. In this study, injection of neonatal gray opossums with 2 mg ethanol (ETOH) or saline (SAL) in the right or left hindquarter resulted in defects of the associated limb in 44% of ETOH animals and 16% of SAL animals. Affected SAL animals showed gait abnormalities, foot clubbing, and moderately reduced limb size. Affected ETOH animals showed these abnormalities as well as fused digits, missing digits, and, in one case, a partially missing limb. Thus, while injection itself may have resulted in altered limb development, local infusion of alcohol had a further teratogenic effect on such development.