Effect of Afobazole Administered to Pregnant Rats during Organogenesis on Prenatal Development of Fetuses

Experiments on pregnant rats have demonstrated the absence of damaging effect of Afobazole administered during the antenatal period on organogenesis in fetuses. Afobazole in a dose of 5 mg/kg given to pregnant rats on gestation days 6-16 reduced pre- and post-implantation fetal mortality and improved fertility; 20-day-old embryos had no developmental abnormalities and did not differ from controls by craniocaudal size, body weight, and skeleton ossification. Afobazole in a dose of 100 mg/kg reduced pre- and post-implantation fetal mortality, but had no effect on fertility. No congenital malformations were found in the fetuses, but they were characterized by lower craniocaudal size, body weight, and number of ossification foci in the sternum and spine.