Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To investigate the teratogenesis effect of sodium lactate in rats. METHODS：Pregnant SD rats were divided into 5 groups with more than 12 rats in each group： 3 dosage groups (750，1 500，3 000 mg/kg sodium lactate)，one positive control group (10 mg/kg cyclophosphamide)，and a negative control group(double-distilled water). The rats received drugs orally for 10 days in embryonic organ formation period，then we sacrificed the animals on the 20th day of gestation and studied the maternal and embryo toxic effects. RESULTS： Compared with the negative control group，there were fewer live embryo，more dead or absorbed embryo in the positive control group. Otherwise，the body length，tail length，body weight of the embryo were significantly decreased while the rates of embryo bone and visceral organ deformity were significantly increased in the latter group (P<0.05). In the 1 500 mg and 3 000 mg/kg sodium lactate groups，the weight gain of the pregnant rats slowed down in the late gestation stage which indicated maternal toxicity. Beyond that，there were no significant differences in the count of corpus luteum， implantation，live embryo，dead or absorbed embryo，the weight of uterus and embryo，the length of body and tail，the rate of visceral organ and bone deformity between these 2 treated groups and negative control groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION： At dosage>1 500 mg/kg，sodium lactate imposed maternal but not embryonic toxicity.

Key words: sodium lactate, rat, embryo toxicity, teratogenesis toxicity