Teratogenic profile of valproic acid and newly synthesized derivatives in zebrafish embryos

In this study, the teratogenic profiles of five structural analogues of valproic acid (VPA) have been assessed in zebrafish embryos. The VPA derivatives induced severe teratogenecity in treated zebrafish embryos as compared to VPA. Moreover, three of these VPA derivatives specifically induced an undulation of notochord, which was not observed in VPA treated embryos. Variation in the treatment timings has shown that these compounds had affected the notochord cells differentiation process. Thus a new class of VPA analogues, which have affected notochord development process in zebrafish embryos by modulating the notochord cells differentiation and expansion, has been reported in this paper.