Embryogenesis is an intricate process that can easily be disrupted by means of teratogenic agents. Some of these agents target the embryonic period?s ?window of susceptibility,? three to eight weeks after a pregnant woman?s last menstruation [5], when the highest degree of sensitivity to embryonic cell differentiation [6] and organ formation occurs. The embryonic period or critical period is wh...

Chronic opioid therapy during pregnancy is perilous, but not simply because of neonatal effects: it is perilous because women are at particular risk for misprescription, misuse, dependence, overdose, and death. Opioids may be teratogens and should be avoided in the periconception period. Accidental childhood poisoning and purposeful teen experimentation are increased with opioid prescriptions i...

The distinction between histiotrophic nutrition (in which local macromolecules are chiefly responsible for the maintenance of the embryo) and hemotrophic nutrition (which results from a transfer of material between the maternal and fetal circulations) is made. Placentation in a number of commonly used laboratory animals and in man is described, and it is shown that dependence upon histiotroph a...

Genotoxicity is a word in genetics defined as a destructive effect on a cell's genetic material (DNA, RNA) affecting its integrity. Genotoxins are mutagens; they can cause mutations. Genotoxins include both radiation and chemical genotoxins. A substance that has the property of genotoxicity is known as a genotoxin. There are three primary effects that genotoxins can have on organisms by affecti...

Most gene mutations and biologically active molecules cause complex responses in animals that cannot be predicted by cell culture models. Yet animal studies remain too slow and their analyses are often limited to only a few readouts. Here we demonstrate high-throughput optical projection tomography with micrometre resolution and hyperdimensional screening of entire vertebrates in tens of second...

This prospective cohort study compares the breastfeeding outcomes of women exposed to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants at the time of delivery, those who discontinued use prior to delivery, and those not exposed. Participants include 466 pregnant women who enrolled in the California Teratogen Information Service Clinical Research Program (CTIS) over 10 years. In biv...

A cohort of 169 births to women who were exposed throughout pregnancy to chloroquine 300 mg base once a week for chemosuppression of malaria was studied. The birth defects in this cohort were compared with those in a control group of 454 births to women who were not exposed to chloroquine, most of whom lived in non-malarious areas. The proportion of birth defects in the exposed group was not si...

Approximately 390 literature references (through spring 1986) were reviewed for mammalian whole embryo culture procedures, with particular attention to the development of those cultures as systems for teratogenicity testing. The existing procedures could be conveniently divided into three groups, which are defined by the periods of embryogenesis that they embrace: preimplantation, peri-implanta...

INTRODUCTION The effectiveness of patient education activities conducted within the lenalidomide and thalidomide risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS) programs was evaluated by measuring understanding of serious risk and safe-use messages. METHODS Results from mandatory knowledge, attitude, and behavior surveys and voluntary patient surveys completed between June 2012 and June 2013...

The organization of the newborn's brain and the nature of the effects of toxins and pollutants conspire to produce complex and difficult problems for the assessment of the behavioral effects of environmental agents. The newborn's brain can be characterized as relatively undifferentiated, and more vulnerable to, but potentially more capable of recovery from, the effects of environmental agents s...