Teratogens are substances that may cause defects in normal embryonic development while not necessarily being toxic in adults. Identification of possible teratogenic compounds has been historically beset by the species-specific nature of the teratogen response. To examine teratogenic effects on early human development we performed non-biased expression profiling of differentiating human embryoni...

The primary recognized health risk from common deficiencies in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), a cytoprotective enzyme for oxidative stress, is red blood cell hemolysis. Here we show that litters from untreated pregnant mutant mice with a hereditary G6PD deficiency had increased prenatal (fetal resorptions) and postnatal death. When treated with the anticonvulsant drug phenytoin, a hu...

A major correlation has been found between the incidence of glucocorticoid-induced cleft palate and the chromosome 8 segment identified by N-acetyl transferase in mice. The resistant strain became fully susceptible while the susceptible strain became resistant when this chromosomal region, representing less than 0.7% of the genome, was transferred from one strain to the other by the constructio...

Fetal valproate syndrome (FVS) is a well-recognized constellation of dysmorphic features, and neurodevelopmental retardation that results from prenatal exposure to the anticonvulsant valproic acid. In this report, we describe a case with typical features of FVS. A 23-year-old lady with post-traumatic epilepsy controlled by sodium valproate (Depakene) 500 mg twice daily throughout pregnancy as m...

Present study was designed to investigate the toxic effects of Carbosulfan 25% EC Marshal on the developing chick embryo at critical period of its developmental stage. Fertilized eggs of pure breed of chick (BV 300) were immersed in low, medium and sub lethal concentrations of the toxicant for 60 minutes on day 4 of incubation. The gross morphological and skeletal features were studied on day 1...

Thalidomide is a potent teratogen causing dysmelia (stunted limb growth) in humans. We have demonstrated that orally administered thalidomide is an inhibitor of angiogenesis induced by basic fibroblast growth factor in a rabbit cornea micropocket assay. Experiments including the analysis of thalidomide analogs revealed that the antiangiogenic activity correlated with the teratogenicity but not ...

Embryonic midbrain micromass cultures were exposed for five days to ochratoxin A (OTA) at seven concentrations (ranging from 0.16 to 10 microg/mL). Cell viability was assessed in neutral red uptake test (NRU), and differentiation - by immunoenzymatic determination of structural proteins (beta(III)-tubulin, MAP2, GFAP) expression level as well as by computer image analysis. Dose dependent decrea...

In the original version of this Article, there is a typographical error in Affiliation 1 which was incorrectly listed as '

Exposure during the organogenesis stage of the mouse embryo to the model teratogen, hydroxyurea (HU), induces curly tail and limb malformations. Oxidative stress contributes to the developmental toxicity of HU. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) interact with polyunsaturated bilipid membranes to form α,β-unsaturated reactive aldehydes; 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE), one of the most cytotoxic of these ...