Before 1961, there was very little evidence for drug-induced malformations in humans. But in that year, Lenz and McBride independently accumulated evidence that a mild sedative, thalidomide, caused an enormous increase in a previously rare syndrome of congenital anomalies. The most noticeable of these anomalies was phocomelia, a condition in which the long bones of the limbs are absent (amelia)...

We reviewed the world literature concerning the reproductive effects of Lyme disease (LD). Borrelia burgdorferi, which is the etiology of LD, is a spirochete and, as such, may share the potential for causing fetal infection, which may occur in the setting of maternal spirochetemia. Information concerning the effects of gestational LD derives from case reports and series, epidemiologic studies, ...

Toluene (methylbenzene) is an aromatic hydrocarbon widely used as an organic solvent in both industrial settings and common household products such as gasoline, glue and paint. (U.S. Public Health Service, ’89; Verschueren, ’77). Inhalation of air-borne toluene as a vapor is the most common route of human exposure. Approximately 80% of an initial inhaled dose is absorbed with decreasing absorpt...

A single stillborn female with craniofacial, abdominal, and central nervous system malformations was exposed to reserpine during the first six weeks of gestation. Parallels between the malformations present in this infant and those induced in rats through exposure to reserpine at analogous periods of gestation suggest that reserpine may pose specific risks for malformations in some pregnancies.

The effect of prenatal administration of different doses of cortisone, corticosterone, dexamethasone, triamcinolone and prednisolone on the fetus and its palatal development was studied. All the glucocorticoids, except cortisone, produced cleft palate in the fetuses. Both the total frequency and morphologically different types of cleft palate were related to the dose of the teratogen. Triamcino...

Hyperthermia (HS) and 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide (4CP) activate the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in day 9 mouse embryos. Previous microarray analyses Microarray analyses revealed that several p53 target genes are upregulated after exposure to HS or 4CP, suggesting a role for p53 in teratogen-induced apoptosis. To explore the role of p53, we assessed the activation of p53 in day 9 mouse em...