Prenatal toxicology

D. Neubert, H.-J. Merker, and T. E. Kwasigroch, eds.. Methods in Prenatal Toxicology, Georg Thieme PubUshers, Stutgart, Germany, 1977. 

FroschI. 1990. Prenatal toxicology of Wofatox 80 in rats. Teratology 42(2) 26A. 

Peters PWJ (1977) Double staining of fetal skeletons for cartilage and bone. In Neubert D, Merker HJ, Kwasigroch TE (eds) Methods in prenatal toxicology. George Thieme, Smttgart, pp 153-154... 

Alder S Zbinden G (1977) Methods for the evaluation of physical, neuromuscular and behavioural development of rats in early postnatal life. In Neubert D, Merker H-J, Kwasigroch ed. Methods in prenatal toxicology. Stuttgart, Georg Thieme, pp 175-185. 

The thalidomide tragedy of the early 1960s served as an impetus for expanded research 1n the field of teratology. This and the Increased popularity of environmental and health issues caused a rapid acceleration in the rate of publications in this research area (Fig. 1). Proliferation of modern pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals has resulted in a mushrooming of the literature on their prenatal toxicology, which 1s an Important element 1n the total spectrum of toxicity Information. 

This principle is of particular importance for the toxicologist since it postulates that there are well defined dose-response-relations in prenatal toxicology which allow the evaluation of the teratogenicity of toxic agents. 

ChemoffN, Kavlock RJ, Hanisch RC, et al. 1979a. Perinatal toxicity of endrin in rodents. I. Fetotoxic effects of prenatal exposure in hamsters. Toxicology 13 155-165. 

Other types of reproductive toxicity studies, e.g., the prenatal developmental toxicity study, the reproduction/developmental toxicity screening study, and the developmental neurotoxicity study (Section 4.10.3) may give some indications of general toxicological effects arising from repeated exposure over a relatively limited period of the animal s life span as clinical signs of toxicity and... 

European Community (EC) (2004) Commission directive 2004/73/EC, Part B, methods for the determination of toxicology, B.31 Prenatal developmental toxicity study , EC Publication No. L152... 

The rabbit has been used in regulatory prenatal or embryotoxicity toxicology studies for more than 50 years. The need for a second species, in addition to the rat, was emphasized since the well-known tragedy with the thalidomide in 1960s (1). 

Key words Teratology, Regulatory toxicology. Prenatal toxicity. Reporting... 

This chapter gives practical advice on how to write an effective regulatory toxicology report, with particular emphasis on embryo-toxicity, prenatal, or teratogenicity studies (see Note 2). 

Key words Pesticides, Prenatal toxicity study, Two-generation study. Regulatory toxicology. Hazard identification, Risk assessment... 

In terms of toxicology and long-term side effects, data in humans are not available and data from animal studies are informative but not definitive. Prenatal exposure of rats to fluoxetine has yielded mixed findings, as reviewed elsewhere (Emslie et ah, 1999). Vorhees et ah (1994) reported reduced litter sizes at high doses, but no significant effects on locomotor activity or per-... 

Oose-effect relations in neurobehavioral teratology may be complex. For instance, high doses of naloxone may stimulate certain aspects of development, while lower doses have the opposite effect (see below). A prenatal dose of 10 mg/kg methadoneresulted in a larger increase in activity of rats on postnatal days 17 and 22 than a dose of 15 mg/kg (ref. 49). This type of dose-effect relations is very common in psychopharmacology, and probably also in neurobehavioral toxicology. Careful choice of dose range is necessary since ineffectiveness of a certain dose level does not always mean that all lower doses can be assumed to have no effect. 

Gilbert T, Lelievre-Pegorier M, Malienou R, Meulemans A, Merlet-Benichou C (1987) Effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to gentamicin on renal differentiation in the rat. Toxicology, 43(3) 301-313. 

Previous reproductive toxicology studies in laboratory animals examining the effects of prenatal exposure to fumonisin demonstrated a potential risk to the developing fetus. Studies using an aqueous extract of contaminated maize-culture material of F. verticillioides reported that fumonisin was developmentally toxic in hamsters (Floss et al., 1994 Penner et al., 1998). In addition, purified fumonisin Bi was shown experimentally to cause fetal toxicity in rats and mice (Collins et al., 1998 Reddy et al., 1996). In another study, pregnant CD1 mice treated with a semipurified extract... 

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