Key result
Telmisartan causes dose-dependent developmental toxicity and abnormal cardiac looping in embryonic models.
Why the study?
There is a scarcity of information from animal trials to assess the teratogenic potential of telmisartan, an antihypertensive drug with reported adverse fetal effects in humans.
In a chick embryo model, telmisartan exposure induced significant dose- and stage-dependent teratogenic effects, including abnormal cardiac and neural development.
Supports avoiding telmisartan in early pregnancy; hypothesis-generating for human teratogenicity from animal data.
Telmisartan, an antihypertensive drug, lowers blood pressure by blocking the angiotensin-II receptor subtype-1 (AT1). A few sporadic case studies reported adverse fetal effects of telmisartan in humans. Moreover, there is a scarcity of information from animal trials to assess its teratogenic potential. The purpose of this study is to assess the potential effects of telmisartan on embryonic development in chicks as a model. The drug was prepared in a sterile 0.9% normal saline solution (NSS) vehicle, and four different dosages of 0.0625, 0.125, 0.25, and 0.50 mg/egg were administered to the blastodiscs on each of the Hamburger and Hamilton (HH) stages 4, 7, 9, and 12. The developmental outcomes of all experimental embryos were assessed at HH stages 14, 19, and 24. Exposure to telmisartan resulted in syndromic development characterized by a wide range of morphological deformities in neural, optic, and otic development; abnormal looping of the heart; delayed angiogenesis; somitic anomalies; and incomplete body flexure. Telmisartan affected heart rate, body length, somite numbers, and area vasculosa in a dose- and stage-dependent manner. The results of this animal model experiment will help assess the teratogenic potential of telmisartan and will serve as a foundation for future research to uncover the mechanisms underlying telmisartan-induced developmental assault.
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Das et al. (2026) studied Embryonic development. Telmisartan vs. 0.9% normal saline solution vehicle was evaluated on Developmental outcomes including morphological deformities, heart rate, body length, somite numbers, and area vasculosa. Telmisartan exposure in chick embryos resulted in dose- and stage-dependent syndromic development, including morphological deformities, abnormal heart looping, and delayed angiogenesis.
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