Unintended exposure to teratogenic compounds can lead to various birth defects; however current animal-based testing is limited by time, cost and high inter-species variability. Here, we developed a human-relevant in vitro model, which recapitulated two cellular events characteristic of embryogenesis, to identify potentially teratogenic compounds. We spatially directed mesoendoderm differentiat...

The membrane-anchored metalloproteinase-regulator RECK has been characterized as a tumor suppressor. Here we report that mice with reduced Reck-expression show limb abnormalities including right-dominant, forelimb-specific defects in postaxial skeletal elements. The forelimb buds of low-Reck mutants have an altered dorsal ectoderm with reduced Wnt7a and Igf2 expression, and hypotrophy in two si...

Autism is a complex developmental disorder without an established single etiology but with significant contributions from genetic studies, functional research, and neuropsychiatric and neuroradiologic investigations. The purpose of this paper is to review the findings in five studies involving individuals manifesting the characteristic findings of autism spectrum disorder associated with malfor...

BACKGROUND Infants with multiple malformations are important in birth defect epidemiology and malformation monitoring because human teratogens have often caused complex malformations. Various methods for the analysis of multimalformed infants have been tried. METHOD By using data from four large registries of congenital malformations, 5256 infants were identified with two or more among 73 sel...

Due to the number of new substances coming into use every year and the increasing amounts of chemicals, which are introduced into the environment, there is a high demand for a rapid, reliable and cost-effective method for detection of developmental toxicity. To meet this challenge various in vitro techniques have been established additional to in vivo animal testing. This review introduces the ...

Methotrexate, a commonly administered chemotherapeutic agent, is a well-known human teratogen. Exposure of a fetus between 6 and 8 weeks of gestation is postulated to cause birth defects. However, fetal exposure to this drug after this critical period is thought to have little to no effect on eventual fetal development and growth. The authors report a case of an infant whose mother was exposed ...

The discovery that thalidomide can cause human malformations has been followed in recent years by a large number of reports of malformations in the offspring of women who have taken other drugs in pregnancy. But it has remained uncertain whether any of these drugs are teratogenic, since those reporting on them have not been in a position to relate their findings to the distribution of malformat...

OBJECTIVES To investigate a possible lasting impact of dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) exposure in neonatal life on mental capacities in later life. MATERIAL AND METHODS Relationships were evaluated by correlation and regression analysis between total DDT concentrations in human breast milk in the years of birth (1984/1985) and measurements of mental capacities obtained in pupils of th...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to report the outcomes of intrauterine pregnancies misdiagnosed as ectopic and exposed to methotrexate, a major teratogen. STUDY DESIGN We report the outcomes of all subjects who sought consultation after exposure to high-dose methotrexate to induce abortion in presumed ectopic pregnancies, which were later identified as viable intrauterine pregnancie...