Effects of Retinoic Acid Exposure In Utero on Mouse Vibrissal Follicle Development

The study investigated the effects of prenatal exposure to all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) on the development of vibrissal follicles in NMRI mice. A single oral dose of 30 mg/kg body weight of RA was administered on day 11.5 of gestation. The results showed no fetal malformations and no significant differences in the histological features or keratin protein distribution between untreated, vehicle-treated, and RA-treated mice. The absence of teratogenic effects suggests that this protocol could be useful for studying the impact of prenatal RA exposure on postnatal skin tumor development in mice.