Meeting Abstract

P2-7   -   A Preliminary Study of the Effects of Melatonin on Cardiac Development of Quail Embryos Cunningham, BJ*; Mark, PP; Pirtle, TJ; The College of Idaho; The College of Idaho; The College of Idaho bailey.cunningham@yotes.collegeofidaho.edu

Melatonin hormone is a common substance that has been established as harmless to humans when taken in recommended dosage. Little research has been done on melatonin and its effects on embryo development. Our purpose has been to discern whether melatonin affects cardiac development of avian embryos, specifically quail. We are interested in relating our research to pregnant mothers, and how their consumption of melatonin could be affecting the cardiac development of their baby. The first exp. examined the ratio of heart mass to embryo mass of melatonin treated eggs versus melatonin antagonist treated eggs. We utilized a control group, three different concentrations of melatonin hormone (1 micromolar, 10 micromolar, 100 micromolar) and three different concentrations of melatonin antagonist (4-P-P-DOT; 1 micromolar, 10 micromolar, 100 micromolar). We cut the embryos from the eggs and measured the wet mass, and shortly after dissected and measured the wet mass of the heart of each embryo. We did not find significant difference between the treatment groups. Our second experiment used confocal microscopy. We took select control and melatonin treated hearts from the previous experiment and surveyed them under the confocal microscope, looking for physical differences in each group. For melatonin-treated hearts, heart base length and heart base to heart apex length both measured significantly greater than in the control hearts. We plan on extending our research to discern the implications of our findings.