Thyrotoxicosis occurs in about 0.2% of pregnancies and is caused most frequently by Graves disease (Burrow, ’85; Kriplani et al., ’94). Graves disease is an autoimmune disorder characterized by the production of antibodies, immunoglobulins of the IgG class, directed against thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) receptors (Shoenfeld and Schwartz, ’84). This results in the excess production of thyroi...

In utero exposure to valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, causes neural tube, heart, and limb defects. Valpromide (VPD), the amide derivative of VPA, does not inhibit HDAC activity and is a weak teratogen in vivo. The detailed mechanism of action of VPA as a teratogen is not known. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that VPA disrupts regulation of the expr...

OBJECTIVE Ondansetron (Zofran) is a drug used for the treatment of nausea and vomiting caused by cancer chemotherapy. Despite the fact that it is not indicated, women are being prescribed this drug for the treatment of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP). There is a paucity of information on fetal safety for this indication. The objective of this study is to determine whether this drug incre...

ABSTRACTQUESTION One of my female patients conceived 2 years after renal transplant while using mycophenolate mofetil. She only realized she was pregnant at 14 weeks of gestation. How should I advise her?ANSWER Several recent case series show increased malformation rates with mycophenolate mofetil. Specifically, the repeated occurrence of phenotypic presentations of ear malformations, cleft lip...

Radiomimetic substances are drugs producing similar symptoms in living organisms as ionising radiation does. They constitute a special subgroup of carcinogen, mutagen, teratogen compounds; their common characteristic is to cause DNA breaks and/or inhibit repair. Mustard gas and its derivatives – alkylating agents were the first known group radiomimetic substances, later, it was observed, that s...

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 most widely used systems for categorizing drug risk during pregnancy in the United States are the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Teratogen Information System (TERIS) pregnancy risk classifications. Controlled data on using medications during pregnancy and lactation are lacking, making firm recommendations more difficult. Only fair agreement on risk category assignment exists when co...

QUESTION I am treating a 27-year-old woman who is now in her 10th week of pregnancy. She smokes marijuana two to three times a week, but does not use other drugs. She also smokes 20 cigarettes a day. I am concerned about the effects of marijuana exposure on her baby. ANSWER It is not always possible to isolate the effect of marijuana exposure from other possible confounders on pregnancy outco...

James Graves Wilson's six principles of teratology [4], published in 1959, guide research on teratogenic agents and their effects on developing organisms. Wilson's six principles were inspired by Gabriel Madeleine Camille Dareste's five principles of experimental teratology [4] published in 1877. Teratology is the study of birth defects [5], and a teratogen is something that either induces or a...