Timed-pregnant Fischer 344 rats and New Zealand White rabbits were exposed to ethylene glycol monobutyl ether vapors by inhalation on gestational days 6 through 15 (rats) or 6 through 18 (rabbits) at concentrations of 0, 25, 50, 100 or 200 ppm. The animals were sacrificed on gestational day 21 (rats) or 29 (rabbits). In rats, exposure to 200 or 100 ppm resulted in maternal toxicity (clinical si...

Monkeys with excellent reproductive histories were immunized with the laminin peptides YIGSR, RGD, IKVAV, and YD, a control sequence with no known biological function. Sera from the YIGSR-immunized monkey became toxic, causing neural tube defects in whole rat embryo cultures, and this monkey experienced fetal loss after immunization. Sera from the RGD-immunized monkey also became embryotoxic in...

An expansion of anthropogenic activity around Lagos lagoon, Nigeria, has raised concerns over increasing contaminants entering the lagoon's ecosystem. The embryotoxicity, teratogenicity and genotoxicity of sediment organic extracts from four sampling zones around Lagos lagoon, Ilaje, Iddo, Atlas Cove and Apapa, as well as the dominant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) identified in water ...

The growing global production of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) suggests a realistic increase in the environmental exposure to such a nanomaterial, making the knowledge of its biological reactivity and its safe-by-design synthesis mandatory. In this study, the embryotoxicity of ZnONPs (1-100 mg/L) specifically synthesized for industrial purposes with different sizes, shapes (round, rod) and ...

Egg surface applications of microliter quantities of crude and refined oils of high aromatic content are embryotoxic to mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and other avian species; applications of aliphatic hydrocarbons have virtually no effect. Mallard eggs at 72 h of development were exposed to a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons or to aromatic compounds representative to those present in crude oil ...

Meclizine and caffeine combination is used for the treatment of morning sickness. Both compounds are teratogenic and caffeine is known to possess anti-fertility activity also. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the reproductive toxic effect of meclizine and caffeine combination. Three doses were taken for the study; low dose (LD; meclizine 3.7 mg/kg and caffeine 3 mg/kg) was selected ...

The ECVAM validation concept, which was defined at two validation workshops held in Amden (Switzerland) in 1990 and 1994, and which takes into account the essential elements of prevalidation and biostatistically defined prediction models, has been officially accepted by European Union (EU) Member States and by the Federal regulatory agencies of the USA and the OECD. The ECVAM validation concept...

The embryonic stem cell test (EST) is a validated in vitro alternative test for prediction of embryotoxicity with inhibition of cardiomyocyte differentiation under the microscope as beating areas at day 10 as an endpoint. However, improvements are necessary for regulatory acceptance and application to high-throughput screening. We have previously reported that heart and neural crest derivatives...

Gametes (sperm) and fertilized eggs (embryos) of the Mediterranean sea urchin, Paracentrotus lividus, and the Japanese oyster, Crassostrea gigas, were used to investigate the toxicity of two marine sediments, one polluted by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and the other by heavy metals. The sediment samples were freeze-dried for storage, and three different treatments were used for analy...