Intracellular pH monkey embryos at various stages of organogenesis estimated by dimethadione distribution.

Previous experiments using the transplacental distribution of 14C-DMO (5,5-dimethyloxazolidine-2,4-dione or commonly known as dimethadione) have demonstrated that the pH of rat embryos and fluids progressively decreases during organogenesis. The aim of the present experiments was to similarly evaluate pH changes during organogenesis in the cynomolgus monkey, which is a model for human embryogenesis. Using DMO quantitated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry as opposed to the counting of radiolabelled compound, cynomolgus monkey embryos were determined to undergo a similar decrease in embryonic pHi over an approximately comparable period of development (Days 24-36 of gestation). The ratio of DMO in chorionic fluid to DMO in maternal plasma in the cynomolgus monkey also displayed a decrease with advancing gestational age indicative of a pH decrease. The DMO transplacental distribution was found to be significantly slower in the cynomolgus monkey than that in rodents. The present investigation indicates that the magnitude of the reduction of pH in embryonic cells and in extra-embryonic fluids over a period of organogenesis in the cynomolgus monkey is similar to the reduction detected in rodent embryos and fluids over a comparable developmental period, but the relative gradient between maternal blood pH and embryonic intracellular pH is different. The difference in the pH gradient between the two species may lead to differential transplacental distribution of exogenous and endogenous substances.