Neural tube defects (NTDs) are among the most common and severe congenital malformations and result from incomplete closure of the neural tube during early development. Maternal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been suggested to be a risk factor for NTDs and previous studies imply that the mechanism underlying the association between PAH exposure and NTDs may involve oxid...

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are congenital malformations which arise from incomplete closure of the neural tube during early embryogenesis. The most common types found in humans are spina bifida and anencephaly. These can occur together in a single family and in some cases even in one person. About 70–80% of all human NTDs show complex or multifactorial inheritance patterns, indicating that both...

Environmental stresses are increasingly acknowledged as core causes of abnormal neural induction leading to neural tube defects (NTDs). However, the mechanism responsible for environmental stress-triggered neural induction defects remains unknown. Here, we report that a spectrum of environmental stresses, including oxidative stress, starvation, and DNA damage, profoundly activate SIRT1, an NAD+...

Anencephaly and myelomeningocele are the 2 most common forms of neural tube defects (NTDs). During embryogenesis large numbers of extrinsic and intrinsic factors are responsible for the closing of the neural tube. "Stem cells" maintain the pluripotency during differentiation of 3 germ layers, including the neural ectoderm. We examined the role of Oct4, Nanog3, and Sox2 genes in the etiopatholog...

Major congenital malformations occur in about 3% of newborn. Several studies have suggested that homozygosity for the C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) variant is a potential risk factor for neural tube defects (NTDs). It has been hypothesized that the maternal folic acid supplementation prevents NTDs by partially correcting reduced MTHFR activity associated with the variant for...

Hospital-based records from major cities of India, where roughly a quarter of the population resides, identified the frequency of neural tube defects (NTDs) as ranging from 3.9 to 8.8 per 1000 births, but the incidence in rural areas is unknown. We did a population-based door-to-door survey of mothers living in remote clusters of villages in Balrampur District in Uttar Pradesh, a region ranked ...

1Neonatal Unit, Paediatric Department, King Hussein Medical Centre, Amman, Jordan (Correspondence to H.E. Aqrabawi: [email protected]). ABSTRACT Neural tube defects (NTDs) are important factors in fetal and infant mortality. There have been no studies on the incidence of NTDs in Jordan. A one-year prospective study was therefore conducted in King Hussein Medical Centre neonatal unit (April...

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are common congenital malformations. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) pathway is involved in many physiological processes. HMGB1 has been showed closely associated with neurulation and NTDs induced by hyperthermia and could activate MAPKs pathway. Since hyperthermia caused increased activation of MAPKs in many systems, the present study aims to investigate wh...

Folic acid prevents 70 percent of human neural tube defects (NTDs) but its mode of action is unclear. The deoxyuridine suppression test detects disturbance of folate metabolism in homozygous splotch (Pax3) mouse embryos that are developing NTDs in vitro. Excessive incorporation of [3H]thymidine in splotch embryos indicates a metabolic deficiency in the supply of folate for the biosynthesis of p...