Background: Cadmium is an extremely toxic metal with ubiquitous environmental distribution. Cadmium is a potent reproductive and developmental toxic agent, and intensive environmental exposure to this substance has been reported among the residents of Tehran. In this study, we investigated the correlation between amniotic fluid cadmium levels and the risk of preeclampsia, prematurity and low bi...

objective(s): anti-epileptic drugs (aeds) have the potential to affect fetal development throughout pregnancy. considering the broad therapeutic indications of pregabalin (pgb), its potential teratogenic effects and the levels of homocysteine have been studied.   materials and methods: timed-pregnant mice received one of three doses of pgb (20, 40 or 80 mg/kg/day) or the vehicle control during ...

Localization patterns of lipid droplets in the cytoplasm of porcine oocytes were evaluated as a novel marker for in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes with high developmental competence. Porcine oocytes were cultured in TCM-199, which is a complete synthetic medium, for 44 h at 38.5 C. Localization patterns were divided into 2 classes: lipid droplets localized uniformly in the whole cytoplasm (c...

background: an evaluation of the developmental competence of vitrified mouse germinal vesicle (gv) oocytes with various equilibration and vitrification times; in the presence or absence of cumulus cells and by comparison between the cryotop method and straws was performed. materials and methods: mouse gv oocytes were considered in cumulus-denuded oocytes (cdos) and cumulus-oocyte complexes (coc...

Developmental rate increases exponentially with increasing temperature in ectothermic animals, but the biochemical basis underlying this thermal dependence is largely unexplored. We measured mitochondrial respiration and metabolic enzyme activities of turtle embryos (Pelodiscus sinensis) incubated at different temperatures to identify the metabolic basis of the rapid development occurring at hi...

Biologists have long sought a means by which to quantify similarities and differences in embryonic development across species. Here we present a quantitative approach for predicting the timing of developmental events based on principles of allometry and biochemical kinetics. Data from diverse oviparous species support model predictions that most variation in the time required to reach one early...

Using a sample of sibling pairs from a nationally representative U.S. survey, we examine the effects of the fetal growth rate on a set of neurobehavioral outcomes in childhood measured by parent-reported diagnosed developmental disabilities and behavior problems. Based on models that include mother fixed effects, we find that the fetal growth rate, a marker for the fetal environment, is negativ...

Critical periods are specific periods in the development of a living organism during which there is an increased sensitivity to external perturbations. Such perturbations result in a developmental trajectory significantly different from what is considered the norm. This paper is concerned with the question of whether the presence and timing of a critical period can be predicted from the develop...