TeratologyPub Date : 2002-07-01DOI: 10.1002/TERA.10035
J. Robertson, L. Martinez, S. Gallegos, M. Leen-Mitchell, V. García, J. Neuman, J. Carey
{"title":"Accutane cases: a teratogen information service's approach.","authors":"J. Robertson, L. Martinez, S. Gallegos, M. Leen-Mitchell, V. García, J. Neuman, J. Carey","doi":"10.1002/TERA.10035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/TERA.10035","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":22211,"journal":{"name":"Teratology","volume":"24 1","pages":"1-2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85612855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TeratologyPub Date : 2002-07-01DOI: 10.1002/TERA.10079
G. Oakley
{"title":"Inertia on folic acid fortification: public health malpractice.","authors":"G. Oakley","doi":"10.1002/TERA.10079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/TERA.10079","url":null,"abstract":"Globally, 500,000 children are born each year with spina bifida and anencephaly, two of the most common and severe birth defects (Berry et al., ’99). One causes permanent paralysis and the other fetal or infant death (Botto et al., ’99). For more than a decade, we have had randomized controlled trial proof that increased consumption of supplemental, synthetic folic acid will prevent approximately 375,000 of these birth defects each year (MRC Vitamin Study Research Group, ’91; Czeizel and Dudas, ’92). This prevention is urgent! To paraphrase Roosevelt, we can “in little time” implement fortification programs that will “do so much.” The advent of the polio vaccine brought a war-like urgency. In the US, within a few months of the conclusion of the trial establishing that the vaccine prevented polio, a massive amount of vaccine was produced, movie theaters across the country were rented to educate the medical community, and, within a year of the completion of the study, American children received 4.0 million doses of vaccine. Folic acid-preventable birth defects are as preventable as polio! Preventing these birth defects is equally urgent. The technology to fortify is simple and can be inexpensively and almost immediately implemented for large population groups.","PeriodicalId":22211,"journal":{"name":"Teratology","volume":"233 1","pages":"44-54"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77520899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TeratologyPub Date : 2002-07-01DOI: 10.1002/TERA.10047
A. Fantel, R. Person
{"title":"Further evidence for the role of free radicals in the limb teratogenicity of L-NAME.","authors":"A. Fantel, R. Person","doi":"10.1002/TERA.10047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/TERA.10047","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND\u0000L-NAME (N(G)-nitro-(L)-arginine methyl ester), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, causes severe limb reduction malformations when gravid rats are treated intraperitoneally on gd-17. Hemorrhages, appearing within hours of L-NAME administration, and defects at term can be significantly reduced by co-treatment with PBN (alpha-phenyl-N-t-butylnitrone), a spin trap antioxidant. We have proposed that limb defects result from ischemia-reperfusion injury. We examine the role of xanthine oxidase and ROS formation in the limb effects of L-NAME.\u0000\u0000\u0000METHODS\u0000Gravidas were treated with L-NAME (50 mg/kg) in the presence or absence of allopurinol, a xanthine oxidase inhibitor. Spatial patterns of limb hemorrhage were determined promptly and at term as was digit length at the latter interval. Xanthine oxidase activities were assayed in control and treated limbs with and without allopurinol co-treatment.\u0000\u0000\u0000RESULTS\u0000Allopurinol significantly reduced hemorrhage severity in a dose-responsive fashion when fetuses were examined at term. Higher doses of allopurinol significantly preserved digit length. Xanthine oxidase activities in fetal limb were significantly increased by L-NAME treatment whereas co-treatment with allopurinol restored activities to near-control levels.\u0000\u0000\u0000CONCLUSIONS\u0000These findings support the role of excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation in L-NAME-induced limb reduction. We propose that nitric oxide (NO) depletion by L-NAME interferes with vascular integrity, and causes vasoconstriction. Resultant hypoxia stimulates superoxide formation and nitric oxide formation catalyzed by the inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase. The reduction products of superoxide or the products of its reaction with nitric oxide oxidize or nitrate endothelial components resulting in limb reduction defects.","PeriodicalId":22211,"journal":{"name":"Teratology","volume":"15 1","pages":"24-32"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82911416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TeratologyPub Date : 2002-07-01DOI: 10.1002/TERA.10060
Laura J. Williams, Cara T Mai, L. Edmonds, G. Shaw, R. Kirby, C. Hobbs, L. Sever, L. Miller, F. Meaney, M. Levitt
{"title":"Prevalence of spina bifida and anencephaly during the transition to mandatory folic acid fortification in the United States.","authors":"Laura J. Williams, Cara T Mai, L. Edmonds, G. Shaw, R. Kirby, C. Hobbs, L. Sever, L. Miller, F. Meaney, M. Levitt","doi":"10.1002/TERA.10060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/TERA.10060","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND\u0000In 1992, the United States Public Health Service recommended that all women of childbearing age consume 400 microg of folic acid daily. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the addition of synthetic folic acid to grain products in March 1996 with mandatory compliance by January 1998. The impact of these public health policies on the prevalence of neural tube defects needs to be evaluated. We sought to determine the prevalences of spina bifida and anencephaly during the transition to mandatory folic acid fortification.\u0000\u0000\u0000METHODS\u0000Twenty-four population-based surveillance systems were used to identify 5,630 cases of spina bifida and anencephaly from 1995-99. Cases were divided into three temporal categories depending on whether neural tube development occurred before folic acid fortification (January 1995 to December 1996), during optional fortification (January 1997 to September 1998), or during mandatory fortification (October 1998 to December 1999). Prevalences for each defect were calculated for each time period. Data were also stratified by programs that did and did not ascertain prenatally diagnosed cases.\u0000\u0000\u0000RESULTS\u0000The prevalence of spina bifida decreased 31% (prevalence ratio [PR] = 0.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.63-0.74) from the pre- to the mandatory fortification period and the prevalence of anencephaly decreased 16% (PR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.75-0.95). Stratification by prenatal ascertainment did not alter results for spina bifida but did impact anencephaly trends.\u0000\u0000\u0000CONCLUSIONS\u0000The decline in the prevalence of spina bifida was temporally associated with folic acid fortification of US grain supplies. The temporal association between fortification and the prevalence of anencephaly is unclear.","PeriodicalId":22211,"journal":{"name":"Teratology","volume":"20 1","pages":"33-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74630362","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TeratologyPub Date : 2002-07-01DOI: 10.1002/TERA.10045
C. Loffredo, C. Ferencz
{"title":"Case-control study confirms the diagnosis-specific risk of maternal diabetes: Reply to harold kalter","authors":"C. Loffredo, C. Ferencz","doi":"10.1002/TERA.10045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/TERA.10045","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":22211,"journal":{"name":"Teratology","volume":"38 1","pages":"4-5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88057349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TeratologyPub Date : 2002-07-01DOI: 10.1002/TERA.10078
de Hermien Walle, D. Berg
{"title":"Insufficient folic acid intake in the Netherlands: what about the future?","authors":"de Hermien Walle, D. Berg","doi":"10.1002/TERA.10078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/TERA.10078","url":null,"abstract":"Background: in 1993 all women of childbearing age in the Netherlands were advised to take a daily 0.5 mg folic acid pill to reduce the risk for neural tube defects. This study describes both recent and past awareness and use of folic acid supplements in relation to socioeconomic status in the Northern Netherlands. The consequences of a recent report of the Dutch Health Council report will be discussed as well. Methods: In the most recent cross-sectional study (November 2000), pregnant women filled out a questionnaire. Out of 473 women, 461 were willing to cooperate. The highest fulfilled level of education was taken as an indicator for socio-economic status. Results: Seventy-seven percent (n = 357) of the respondents had heard about folic acid before being pregnant. Sixty-three percent (n = 289) knew about the protective effect for NTDs and 33% (n = 151) knew the entire advised period. Sixty-one percent (n = 265) of the respondents used folic acid in some part of the advised period and 36% (n = 164) used it in the entire advised period. Higher educated women knew more about folic acid and used it significantly more often in the periconceptional period than lower educated women. Conclusions: Because compliance to proper use of folic acid was poor, food fortification in the Netherlands must be seriously considered. The Dutch Health Council wants to limit the fortification of food products to those products that are especially aimed for women who wish to become pregnant. The fortification of specific products instead of staple foods is a missed chance to reduce NTDs and possibly other birth defects and cardiovascular defects as well.","PeriodicalId":22211,"journal":{"name":"Teratology","volume":"62 1","pages":"40-43"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76657410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TeratologyPub Date : 2002-07-01DOI: 10.1002/TERA.10044
A. Bokhari, B. Coull, L. Holmes
{"title":"Effect of prenatal exposure to anticonvulsant drugs on dermal ridge patterns of fingers.","authors":"A. Bokhari, B. Coull, L. Holmes","doi":"10.1002/TERA.10044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/TERA.10044","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND\u0000An altered frequency of specific dermal ridge patterns on fingertips, such as an increased number of arches, has been observed in children exposed in utero to anticonvulsants and other teratogens. Asymmetry of the distribution of dermal ridge patterns has been attributed to environmental exposures and genetic factors.\u0000\u0000\u0000METHODS\u0000We evaluated all of the dermal ridge patterns of 66 children who had been exposed to either the anticonvulsant phenytoin alone or phenytoin and phenobarbital. We determined the frequency of each pattern, concordance between the fingers on the left and right hands, sex differences and total ridge counts in the drug-exposed children and compared them to the findings in 716 unexposed comparison children. The frequency of each pattern was established in comparison to the most common type of pattern (ulnar loop), which showed that there were alterations in the frequency of arches, radial loops and whorls on specific fingers.\u0000\u0000\u0000RESULTS\u0000Eight (12.1%) of 66 children had three or more arch patterns, with all but one having been exposed to phenytoin and phenobarbital. Only one of these eight children was considered by the masked examiner to have fingernail hypoplasia. There was no evidence of asymmetry in the anticonvulsant-exposed children. There were minor differences in the distribution of total ridge count.\u0000\u0000\u0000CONCLUSIONS\u0000Subtle differences in several dermal ridge patterns, not just arch patterns, were present in anticonvulsant-exposed children, primarily in those exposed to polytherapy: phenytoin and phenobarbital.","PeriodicalId":22211,"journal":{"name":"Teratology","volume":"23 1","pages":"19-23"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91275125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TeratologyPub Date : 2002-05-01DOI: 10.1002/TERA.10043
J. Polifka, J. Friedman
{"title":"Teratogen update: azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine.","authors":"J. Polifka, J. Friedman","doi":"10.1002/TERA.10043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/TERA.10043","url":null,"abstract":"Azathioprine (AZA) and its active metabolite, 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP), are purine analogues that interfere with the synthesis of adenine and guanine ribonucleosides. These ribonucleosides are important precursors of DNA and RNA. Because AZA and 6-MP act predominantly on rapidly dividing cells such as the T lymphocytes, these drugs are not only cytotoxic but also immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory. The effects are dose-related, small doses of either drug are anti-inflammatory, but larger doses are immunosuppressive and cytotoxic (Goldstein, ’87). 6-MP has been used in cancer chemotherapy, primarily in childhood and adult leukemias and usually in combination with other drugs. 6-MP is also used to treat autoimmune diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (Bermas and Hill, ’95; Ramsey-Goldman and Schilling, ’97). Initial oral doses for treatment of leukemia range between 2.5–5 mg/kg/d. For maintenance therapy of leukemia, doses range between 1.5–2.5 mg/kg/d. Similar doses (1.5–2.5 mg/kg/d) are used to treat IBD (Present et al., ’80; Botoman et al., ’98; USP DI, ’01), but the use of 6-MP as an immunosuppressant has been largely superseded by AZA, which has been shown to possess a better therapeutic index (Van Scoik et al., ’85; Goldstein, ’87; Chabner et al., ’96). AZA is no longer used as an antineoplastic agent (Ostensen, ’92), but is employed in the treatment of autoimmune disorders at doses between 1–2.5 mg/kg/d and at doses between 1–5 mg/kg/d as part of immunosuppressive regimens to prevent transplant rejection (Botoman et al., ’98; USP DI, ’01). The majority of patients affected by autoimmune diseases are women, in whom the peak incidence occurs between 16 and 55 years of age (Weterman, ’89; Brent et al., ’97; Esplin and Branch, ’97). Successful treatment with cytotoxic and immunosuppressant drugs such as AZA has greatly improved the feasibility of pregnancy in affected women, many of whom must continue to take the medications throughout gestation to prevent relapse. Similarly, women who become pregnant after organ transplantation continue immunosuppressive therapy to prevent rejection if they have been on immunosuppressive therapy before pregnancy. In some patients who become ill with an immunopathic or malignant disease while pregnant, treatment with 6-MP or AZA may be initiated during gestation. The use of cytotoxic immunosuppressants during pregnancy raises concern about possible adverse effects in the developing embryo or fetus, but the potential teratogenicity of AZA and 6-MP is difficult to evaluate in humans. These agents are used to treat patients who have severe illness, and it is often impossible to determine if adverse effects that occur in the embryo/fetus resulted from a particular treatment, the maternal illness, or some other factor (Brent et al., ’97). Also, because of the severity of the illness and the complications that ensue, combination thera","PeriodicalId":22211,"journal":{"name":"Teratology","volume":"13 1","pages":"240-61"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86060340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
TeratologyPub Date : 2002-05-01DOI: 10.1002/TERA.10059
T. Shepard
{"title":"Dose response in human teratology.","authors":"T. Shepard","doi":"10.1002/TERA.10059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/TERA.10059","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":22211,"journal":{"name":"Teratology","volume":"95 1","pages":"199-200"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79459682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}