Cyclopia subternata is a medicinal plant commonly used in traditional medicine to relieve pain. Here, the anticoagulant effects of scolymoside, an active compound in C. subternata, were examined by monitoring activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), prothrombin time (PT), and the activities of thrombin and activated factor X (FXa). The effects of scolymoside on plasminogen activator inhibi...

The Afrotropical Oberthuerellinae are revised, and new dichotomous and multi-entry keys to the species of Oberthuerella, Tessmannella, and Xenocynips are provided. All previously described species in these genera are redescribed; descriptions are augmented by color images of the holotype for each species. The following 11 species are described as new: Oberthuerella cyclopia Buffington & van Noo...

Holoprosencephaly is a common developmental disorder in humans characterised by incomplete brain hemisphere separation and midface anomalies. The etiology of holoprosencephaly is heterogeneous with environmental and genetic causes, but for a majority of holoprosencephaly cases the genes associated with the pathogenesis could not be identified so far. Here we report the generation of knockout mi...

Holoprosencephaly (HPE) is a defect of embryonic forebrain resulting from failure of growth and segmentation of the anterior end of the neural tube. It has been classified into 4 types based on the severity of associated brain and facial malformations. The most severe variety called alobar HPE is generally associated with major cranio-facial anomalies such as cyclopia, ethmocephaly, cebocephaly...

We would like to present a rare case of alobar holoprosencephaly (HPE) in a fetus diagnosed by routine sonography in the second trimester. Structural sonography demonstrated multiple facial anomalies including absent nasal bone, flat facial profile, hypotelorism, fusion of the orbits and proboscis. After counseling, termination of pregnancy was performed by vaginally administered misoprostol. K...

Ventral structures in the central nervous system are patterned by signals emanating from the underlying mesoderm as well as originating within the neuroectoderm. Mutations in the zebrafish, Danio rerio, are proving instrumental in dissecting these midline signals. The cyclops mutation leads to a loss of medial floor plate and to severe deficits in ventral forebrain development, leading to cyclo...

A currently favored hypothesis postulates that a single field of cells in the neural plate forms bilateral retinas. To learn how retinal precursors segregate, we followed individual labeled neural plate cells in zebrafish. In the late gastrula, a single field of odd-paired-like-expressing cells contributed to both retinas, bordered posteriorly by diencephalic precursors expressing mariposa. Med...

A twenty-year-old second gravida presented to the department of radiodiagnosis for routine obstetric ultrasound examination. Ultrasonography revealed a live fetus of 17 weeks with absent falx, fused thalami, monoventricle, proboscis, and cyclopia. Fetal MRI was performed and the findings were confirmed. Even though ultrasonography is diagnostic in the detection of fetal anomalies, MRI plays a v...

Diminished Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) signaling is associated with the most common forebrain defect in humans, holoprosencephaly (HPE), which includes cyclopia, a phenotype also seen in mice and other vertebrates with defective Shh signaling. The secreted protein Shh acts as a crucial factor that patterns the ventral forebrain and is required for the division of the primordial eye field and brain int...

Steroidal alkaloids from Veratrum californicum (Durand) are known to exert teratogenic effects (e.g., cyclopia, holoprosencephaly) by blocking the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway, which plays a considerable role in embryonic development and organogenesis. Most surprisingly, recent studies demonstrate that this complex signaling network is active even in the healthy adult organism, where it seem...