Endogenous and xenobiotic-enhanced oxidative stress may initiate embryonic death and birth defects via reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling pathways involving nuclear transcription factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB). Using embryo culture and a transgenic mouse engineered with a NF-kappaB-dependent beta-galactosidase reporter gene, we employed NF-kappaB antisense oligonucleotide therapy to determine w...

Maternal-Fetal Toxicology answers many questions about the potential reproductive effects of exposure to possible teratogens. It presents current estimates of the risks of exposure to drugs, chemicals, viruses, and radiation. The book also describes teratogen information programs and details the process of counseling at one such program. In addition, readers are told how to obtain further infor...

Common inbred mouse strains, such as the C57BL/6 (C57) and the SWV, display differences in sensitivity to environmental teratogens during gestation. For example, the C57 is more sensitive than the SWV to cadmium (Cd) exposure during neurulation, inducing a higher incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs). Here, we report, using Cd as a model teratogen, the first large scale toxicogenomic study to...

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...

Regulatory agencies world wide such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency (1993; 2006) and the European Commission (2002) as well as scientific organizations such as the World Health Organization (2004), whose responsibilities are to evaluate the use of pesticides and determine their safety for human health and the environment have concluded after reviewed extensive data sets tha...

Hydroxyurea, an antineoplastic drug, is a model teratogen. The administration of hydroxyurea to CD1 mice on gestation day 9 induces oxidative stress, increasing the formation of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal adducts to redox-sensitive proteins such as glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) in the caudal region of the embryo. GAPDH catalytic activity is reduced, and its translocation into the nu...