background: silymarin is a flavonolignan that has been the subject of research to evaluate the beneficial properties for decades. silymarin has been known for its potent cytoprotective, hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities. the goal of the present study was to gain a deeper understanding of possible molecular mechanisms of apoptosis of the injuries induced by silymarin on balb/c mice fet...

Epidemiological studies have shown a potential association between maternal periodontitis and pregnancy complications. We used a pregnant murine model to study the effect of infection with the periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis on pregnancy outcomes. Female BALB/c mice were inoculated with heat-killed P. gingivalis (10(9) CFU) in a subcutaneous chamber and mated 2 weeks later. At ges...

To investigate the role of p53 gene in tissue repair of teratogenic injury, we compared incidence of radiationinduced malformations in homozygous p53(-/-) mice, heterozygous p53(+/-) mice and wild-type p53(+/+) mice. After X-irradiation with 2 Gy at high dose rate on 9.5 days of gestation, p53(-/-) mice showed higher incidences of anomalies and higher resistance to prenatal deaths than p53(+/+)...

introduction: chlorpyrifos (cpf), an organophosphate insecticide, was evaluated for potential teratogenic effects in mice. a single oral dose of insecticide (i.e. 72, 36 18 or 9 mg/kg) was given to the pregnant females on gestation day6 (gd6). these doses correspond 50, 25, 12.5 and 6.25% to the calculated ld50 value (144 mg/kg) for the pregnant mice. no signs of overt toxicity were observed at...

Chromosomal abnormality is a leading cause of aging-related infertility, spontaneous abortion and congenital birth defects in humans. Karyotype analyses of spontaneously aborted human fetuses reveal high proportions (~50%) being chromosomal abnormal with the majority being trisomies of various chromosomes. As a model organism, mice are widely used for studies of reproduction and reproductive ag...