Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Effects of Low‐Dose Embryonic Thyroid Disruption and Rearing Temperature on the Development of the Eye and Retina in Zebrafish
In this study, our anatomic analyses following low‐dose, chronic thyroid inhibition reveal that both methimazole (MMI) exposure and rearing temperature affect eye development in a time‐ and temperature‐dependent fashion. Maximal sensitivity to MMI for external eye development occurred at 65 hr postfertilization (hpf) for zebrafish reared at 28°C, and at 69 hpf for those reared at 31°C. Changes in eye diameter corresponded to changes in thickness of two inner retinal layers: the ganglion cell layer and the inner plexiform layer, with irreversible MMI‐induced decreases in layer thickness observed in larvae treated ...
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - September 23, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Masha Reider, Victoria P. Connaughton Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Relationship Between Bent Long Bones, Bent Scapulae, and Wavy Ribs: Malformations or Variations?
CONCLUSIONOur conclusion from this review is that bent long bones and scapulae, like wavy ribs, appear to be secondary to maternal and developmental toxicity, are transient, and like wavy ribs should be considered variations rather than malformations (Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology)
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - September 23, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Carole A. Kimmel, Michael R. Garry, John M. DeSesso Tags: Review Article Source Type: research

TGFβ and Wnt in Cardiac Outflow Tract Defects in Offspring of Diabetic Pregnancies
CONCLUSIONSMaternal diabetes generates oxidative and ER stress conditions, suppresses TGFβ and Wnt signaling, inhibits cell proliferation and cellularization of the endocardial cushions, leading to OFT septal defects. Activin‐A plays a role in hyperglycemia‐suppressed proliferation of the endocardial cells (Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology)
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - September 17, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Zhiyong Zhao Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Effects of Different Types of Bedding Materials on Behavioral Development in Laboratory CD1 Mice (Mus musculus)
Male and female mice were housed in cages, containing different types of bedding materials (wood flakes or pulp chips), from 4 weeks of age in the F0 generation to 11 weeks of age in the F1 generation; selected reproductive and neurobehavioral parameters were measured in the F1 generation. There were no adverse effects of bedding materials on litter size, litter weight, or sex ratios at the time of birth. With regard to behavioral development parameters, bedding materials did not influence any variables (p > 0.05) in both sexes. Regarding exploratory behavior in the F1 generation, number of defecations significantly var...
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - August 1, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Toyohito Tanaka, Akio Ogata, Akiko Inomata, Dai Nakae Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Evaluation of Bupropion Hydrochloride Developmental Cardiotoxic Effects in Chick Cardiomyocyte Micromass Culture and stem cell derived Cardiomyocyte Systems
In this study, BPN developmental cardiotoxic effects in in vitro system were evaluated using chick cardiomyocyte micromass (MM) culture system and mouse embryonic stem cell derived cardiomyocyte (ESDC) system. In MM system, the cardiomyocyte contractile activity significantly decreased only at BPN 200 μM, while in ESDC system BPN concentration above 75 μM resulted in decreased contractile activity. The increase in drug concentration also affected the cardiomyocyte viability and total cellular protein content in both systems, but in ESDC system the cell viability failed to attain significant difference. The drug failed to...
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - August 1, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: W. M. Shaikh Qureshi, Muhammad Liaque Latif, Terry L. Parker, Margaret K. Pratten Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Ketamine Affects the Neurogenesis of Rat Fetal Neural Stem Progenitor Cells via the PI3K/Akt‐p27 Signaling Pathway
We reported that ketamine alters the normal neurogenesis of rat fetal neural stem progenitor cells (NSPCs) in the developing brain, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. The PI3K‐PKB/Akt (phosphatidylinositide 3‐kinase/protein kinase B) signaling pathway plays many important roles in cell survival, apoptosis, and proliferation. We hypothesized that PI3K‐PKB/Akt signaling may be involved in ketamine‐altered neurogenesis of cultured NSPCs in vitro. NSPCs were isolated from Sprague‐Dawley rat fetuses on gestational day 17. 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation, Ki67 staining, and differentiati...
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - August 1, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Chaoxuan Dong, Cynthia R. Rovnaghi, Kanwaljeet J. S. Anand Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Issue Information
(Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology)
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - August 1, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Tags: Issue Information Source Type: research

Toxicity Endpoint Selections for a Simazine Risk Assessment
CONCLUSIONSFetal developmental delays, endocrine disruption, and mammary tumors resulted from simazine treatment. Systemic and maternal/fetal effects determined the critical NOELs used in risk assessment. Margins of exposures for most scenarios were below acceptable levels, especially for children who may be bystanders where simazine is applied and children who exhibit pica. This risk characterization raises a concern for long‐term effects in humans (Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology)
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - July 30, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Marilyn Silva, Poorni Iyer Tags: Review Article Source Type: research

The Microbiome in Early Life: Self‐Completion and Microbiota Protection as Health Priorities
This minireview considers the benefits of refocusing attention away from treating the patient as a mammalian human to managing the complete patient: a majority microbial superorganism. Under the “completed self” model for formation of the human‐microbial superorganism, the single, most pivotal sign in distinguishing a life course of health versus that filled with disease is self‐completion (i.e., seeding of the minority mammalian human by the majority microbial portion of the symbiont). From a disease prevention perspective, microbial seeding at birth and subsequent nurturing of the microbiota are significant steps...
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - July 10, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Rodney R. Dietert Tags: Review Article Source Type: research

Issue Information
(Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology)
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - June 21, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Tags: Issue Information Source Type: research

Imbalance of Caveolin‐1 and eNOS Expression in the Pulmonary Vasculature of Experimental Diaphragmatic Hernia
ConclusionThe striking evidence of markedly decreased gene and protein expression of Cav‐1 with concurrently increased eNOS gene and protein expression in the pulmonary vasculature suggests that activation of eNOS secondary to Cav‐1 deficiency may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PH in the nitrofen‐induced CDH (Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology)
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - June 1, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Alejandro Hofmann, Jan‐Hendrik Gosemann, Toshiaki Takahashi, Florian Friedmacher, Johannes W. Duess, Prem Puri Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Primary Cell Cultures for Understanding Rat Epididymal Inflammation
Treatment‐induced epididymal inflammation and granuloma formation is only an occasional problem in preclinical drug development, but it can effectively terminate the development of that candidate molecule. Screening for backup molecules without that toxicity must be performed in animals (generally rats) that requires at least 2 to 3 weeks of in vivo exposure, a great deal of specially synthesized candidate compound, and histologic examination of the target tissues. We instead hypothesized that these treatments induced proinflammatory gene expression, and so used mixed‐cell cultures from the rat epididymal tubule to mon...
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - June 1, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Robert E. Chapin, Timothy R. Winton, William S. Nowland, Steven W. Kumpf, Scott Davenport, David Karanian, Randal D. Streck, Timothy M. Coskran, Elsa G. Barbacci‐Tobin, Christopher Houle, Sarah N. Campion Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Evaluation of Developmental Toxicity of Propylthiouracil and Methimazole
CONCLUSIONWe did not observe either gross external malformations or histopathological malformations in mice or rats treated long‐term with high doses of PTU or MMI during pregnancy (Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology)
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - June 1, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Murali K. Mallela, Marie Strobl, Ryan R. Poulsen, Christopher C. Wendler, Carmen J. Booth, Scott A. Rivkees Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

The Effect of Atrazine Administered by Gavage or in Diet on the LH Surge and Reproductive Performance in Intact Female Sprague‐Dawley and Long Evans Rats
In this study, we determined if comparable doses delivered either by gavage (bolus dose) or distributed in diet would reduce the LH surge and subsequently affect fertility in the intact female rat. ATR was administered daily to intact female Sprague‐Dawley (SD) or Long Evans (LE) rats by gavage (0, 0.75 1.5, 3, 6, 10, 12, 50, or 100 mg/kg/day) or diet (0, 30, 100, 160, 500, 660, or 1460 ppm) during one complete 4‐day estrous cycle, starting on day of estrus. Estrous status, corpora lutea, ova, and LH plasma concentrations were evaluated. A second cohort of animals was mated on the fourth treatment day. Fertility metri...
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - May 15, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Chad D. Foradori, Prägati Sawhney Coder, Merrill Tisdel, Kun Don Yi, James W. Simpkins, Robert J. Handa, Charles B. Breckenridge Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Tripterygium Glycosides Impairs the Proliferation of Granulosa Cells and Decreases the Reproductive Outcomes in Female Rats
This study was carried out to investigate the impact of tripterygium glycosides (TGs) on ovarian function of female rats in vitro and in vivo. In vitro studies showed that TG induced cells decrease at G1 phase and inhibited cell proliferation in rat granulosa cells. In vivo, female rats were intragastrically administered with TG at the dose of 60 mg/kg/day for consecutive 50 days. TG caused a prolonged estrous cycle, and a significant reduction in ovarian index, serum E2 level, and numbers of secondary and antral follicles (p < 0.05) in these rats. A significant reduction of viable embryos was demonstrated in TG‐treat...
Source: Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - May 15, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: Jing Su, Jie Cheng, Hai‐Xiang Sun, Zhen‐Yu Diao, Xin Zhen, Jun Yang, Li‐Jun Ding, Ya‐Li Hu Tags: Research Article Source Type: research