A spectrum of cephalic neural tube defects was observed in near-term (gestation day [GD] 17) mouse fetuses following maternal inhalation of methanol at a high concentration (15,000 ppm) for 6 hr/day during neurulation (GD 7-9). Dysraphism, chiefly exencephaly, occurred in 15% of fetuses, usually in association with reduction or absence of multiple bones in the craniofacial skeleton and ocular a...

It is well known that 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR) when injected into pregnant animals may cause exencephaly, cleft palate, and limb abnormalities. Similarly, it is well established that the drug when added to a culture medium may prevent differentiation of embryonic cell systems without affecting cell division or cell viability. The goal of our experiments was to examine whether the congenital m...

Anencephalus, spina bifida, and hydrocephalus are the most common of the major structural anomalies of the central nervous system recognizable at birth. Anencephalus is characterized by absence of the cranial vault of the skull. The cerebral hemispheres are completely missing or are reduced to small masses attached to the base of the skull. Spina bifida is a dorsal defect of the vertebral colum...

We have studied the teratogenicity of benzo(a)pyrene (BP), benzo(a)pyrene-4,5-oxide, and a racemic mixture of 7 beta,8 alpha-dihydroxy-9 alpha,10 alpha-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo(a)pyrene, a proximal metabolite and ultimate carcinogenic metabolite of BP, respectively, and of 6-methylbenzo(a)pyrene after direct injection into embryonal Swiss mice. The compounds were dissolved in acetone and ...

Limb bud (LB) and central nerve system (CNS) cells were prepared from 12.5 day old pregnant female Crj:CD (SD) rats and treated with olaquindox and vitamin A. Cytotoxicity and inhibition on differentiation were measured in each cell. Three doses of olaquindox (4, 21 and 100 mgkg) , and 0.2 and 75 mg/kg of vitamin A were administered to pregnant rat for 11 days from 6(th) to 16(th) of pregnancy....

The recognition that periconceptional folate supplementation in addition to normal dietary folate intake reduced the incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs), one of the most common birth defects, has led to mandatory folate fortification in the United States and ;50 other countries (1, 2). Fortification programs have reduced the incidence of NTDs by ;20–80%, with the largest reductions occurrin...

A clinical report is presented of Fusion of maxillary primary central incisors associated with a dental disturbance in the corresponding area of the permanent dentition in a child with other nondentdl malformations. Fusion is the union of two normally separated tooth germs. It may be complete with the formation of one abnormally large tooth, or incomplete with the union of crowns or union of ro...

DE, KZ, HN University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation -, Center for Systemic Neuroscience Hannover, Centre for Food Science, Department of Food Toxicology and Chemical Analysis Food Toxicology -, Bischofsholer Damm 15, D-30173 Hannover, Germany KH University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation -, Center for Systemic Neuroscience Hannover, Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology ...

The myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate (MARCKS) is a prominent protein kinase C (PKC) substrate in brain that is expressed highly in hippocampal granule cells and their axons, the mossy fibers. Here, we examined hippocampal infrapyramidal mossy fiber (IP-MF) limb length and spatial learning in heterozygous Macs mutant mice that exhibit an '50% reduction in MARCKS expression relative ...