| 1. |
- Blomberg, Marie I., et al.
(författare)
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Maternal Obesity and Morbid Obesity: the Risk for Birth Defects in the Offspring
- 2010
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Ingår i: Birth Defects Research. Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology. - : Wiley. - 1542-0760 .- 1542-0752. ; 88:1, s. 35-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to assess, in a large data set from Swedish Medical Health Registries, whether maternal obesity and maternal morbid obesity were associated with an increased risk for various structural birth defects. METHODS: The study population consisted of 1,049,582 infants born in Sweden from January 1, 1995, through December 31, 2007, with known maternal weight and height data. Women were grouped in six categories of body mass index (BMI) according to World Health Organization classification. Infants with congenital birth defects were identified from three sources: the Swedish Medical Birth Registry, the Register of Birth Defects, and the National Patient Register. Maternal age, parity, smoking, and year of birth were thought to be potential confounders and were included as covariates in the adjusted odds ratio analyses. RESULTS: Ten percent of the study population was obese. Morbid obesity (BMI >= 40) occurred in 0.7%. The prevalence of congenital malformations was 4.7%, and the prevalence of relatively severe malformations was 3.2%. Maternal prepregnancy morbid obesity was associated with neural tube defects OR 4.08 (95% CI 1.87-7.75), cardiac defects OR 1.49 (95% CI 1.24-1.80), and orofacial clefts OR 1.90 (95% CI 1.27-2.86). Maternal obesity (BMI >= 30) significantly increased the risk of hydrocephaly, anal atresia, hypospadias, cystic kidney, pes equinovarus, omphalocele, and diaphragmatic hernia. CONCLUSION: The risk for a morbidly obese pregnant woman to have an infant with a congenital birth defect is small, but for society the association is important in the light of the ongoing obesity epidemic. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 88:35-40, 2010. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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| 2. |
- Cleary, Brian J., et al.
(författare)
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Early Pregnancy Azathioprine Use and Pregnancy Outcomes
- 2009
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Ingår i: Birth Defects Research. Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology. - : Wiley. - 1542-0760 .- 1542-0752. ; 85:7, s. 647-654
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Azathioprine (AZA) is used during pregnancy by h omen with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), other autoimmune disorders, malignancy, and organ transplantation. Previous studies have demonstrated potential risks. METHODS: The Swedish Medical Birth Register was used to identify 476 women who reported the use of AZA in early pregnancy. The effect of AZA exposure on pregnancy outcomes was Studied after adjustment for maternal characteristics that could act as confounders. RESULTS: The most common indication for AZA use was IBD. The rate of congenital malformations was 6.2% in the AZA group and 4.7% among all infants born (adjusted OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 0.98-2.04). An association between early pregnancy AZA exposure and ventricular/atrial septal defects was found (adjusted OR: 3.18, 95% CI: 1.45-6.04)Exposed infants were also more likely to be preterm, to weigh <2500 gm, and to be small for gestational age compared to all infants born. This effect remained for preterm birth and low birth weight when infants of women with IBD but without AZA exposure were used as a comparison group. A trend toward an increased risk of congenital malformations was found among infants of women with IBD using AZA compared to women with IBD not using AZA (adjusted OR: 1.42, 95% CI: 0.93-2.18). CONCLUSIONS: Infants exposed to AZA in early pregnancy may be at a moderately increased risk of congenital malformations, specifically ventricular/atrial septal defects. There is also an increased risk of growth restriction and preterm delivery. These associations may be confounded by the severity of maternal illness. Birth Defect: Research (Part A) 85:647-654, 2009. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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| 3. |
- Cocchi, Guido, et al.
(författare)
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International Trends of Down Syndrome 1993-2004 : Births in Relation to Maternal Age and Terminations of Pregnancies
- 2010
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Ingår i: Birth defects research. Clinical and molecular teratology. - : Wiley. - 1542-0752 .- 1542-0760. ; 88:6, s. 474-479
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine trends of Down syndrome (DS) in relation to maternal age and termination of pregnancies (ToP) in 20 registries of the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research (ICBDSR). METHODS: Trends of births with DS (live-born and stillborn), ToP with DS, and maternal age (percentage of mothers older than 35 years) were examined by year over a 12-year period (1993-2004). The total mean number of births covered was 1550,000 annually. RESULTS: The mean percentage of mothers older than 35 years of age increased from 10.9% in 1993 to 18.8% in 2004. However, a variation among the different registers from 4-8% to 20-25% of mothers >35 years of age was found. The total mean prevalence of DS (still births, live births, and ToP) increased from 13.1 to 18.2/10,000 births between 1993 and 2004. The total mean prevalence of DS births remained stable at 8.3/10,000 births, balanced by a great increase of ToP. In the registers from France, Italy, and the Czech Republic, a decrease of DS births and a great increase of ToP was observed. The number of DS births remained high or even increased in Canada Alberta, and Norway during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Although an increase in older mothers was observed in most registers, the prevalence of DS births remained stable in most registers as a result of increasing use of prenatal diagnostic procedures and ToP with DS.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Danielsson, Christian, et al.
(författare)
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Polytherapy with hERG-blocking antiepileptic drugs : Increased risk for embryonic cardiac arrhythmia and teratogenicity
- 2007
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Ingår i: Birth defects research. Clinical and molecular teratology. - : Wiley. - 1542-0752 .- 1542-0760. ; 79:8, s. 595-603
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) phenytoin, phenobarbital, dimethadione, and carbamazepine cause a similar pattern of malformations in humans, with an increased risk after polytherapy. The teratogenicity has been linked to cardiac rhythm disturbances and hypoxic damage as a consequence of their common potential to inhibit a specific potassium ion current (IKr). The IKr is of major importance for embryonic cardiac repolarization and rhythm regulation. This study investigated whether these AEDs cause irregular rhythm and if various combinations of AEDs result in higher arrhythmia risk than exposure to a single AED. METHODS: The effects on heart rhythm of a single AED (monotherapy), and of various combinations (polytherapy) of AEDs, in gestational day 10 C57BL mouse embryos in culture were analyzed and graphically illustrated during a 25 s recording with a digitalization technique. RESULTS: All of the studied AEDs caused increased intervals between heartbeats (resulting in bradycardia) and large variations in the interval between heartbeats (resulting in irregular rhythm) in a concentration-dependent manner in cultured mouse embryos. Dimethadione caused irregular rhythm at concentrations within and phenytoin slightly above the therapeutic ranges. Polytherapy resulted in more substantial prolongation of the mean interval between heartbeats (>60 ms) than monotherapy at clinically relevant concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that polytherapy more than monotherapy causes substantial prolongation of the cardiac repolarization, a marker associated with high risk of developing irregular rhythm during longer exposure periods (days to months). This supports the idea that the increased risk for malformations following polytherapy is linked to an increased risk for cardiac rhythm disturbances.
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| 6. |
- Draaken, Markus, et al.
(författare)
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Classic Bladder Exstrophy: Frequent 22q11.21 Duplications and Definition of a 414 kb Phenocritical Region
- 2014
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Ingår i: Birth Defects Research. Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology. - : Wiley. - 1542-0760 .- 1542-0752. ; 100:6, s. 512-517
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Classic bladder exstrophy (CBE) is the most common form of the bladder exstrophy and epispadias complex. Previously, we and others have identified four patients with a duplication of 22q11.21 among a total of 96 unrelated CBE patients. Methods: Here, we investigated whether this chromosomal aberration was commonly associated with CBE/bladder exstrophy and epispadias complex in an extended case-control sample. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification and microarray-based analysis were used to identify 22q11.21 duplications in 244 unrelated bladder exstrophy and epispadias complex patients (including 217 CBE patients) and 665 healthy controls. Results: New duplications of variable size were identified in four CBE patients and one control. Pooling of our previous and present data (eight duplications in 313 CBE patients) yielded a combined odds ratio of 31.86 (95% confidence interval, 4.24-1407.97). Array-based sequence capture and high-throughput targeted re-sequencing established that all breakpoints resided within the low-copy repeats 22A to 22D. Comparison of the eight duplications revealed a 414 kb phenocritical region harboring 12 validated RefSeq genes. Characterization of these 12 candidate genes through whole-mount in situ hybridization of mouse embryos at embryonic day 9.5 suggested that CRKL, THAP7, and LZTR1 are CBE candidate genes. Conclusion: Our data suggest that duplication of 22q11.21 increases CBE risk and implicate a phenocritical region in disease formation. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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| 7. |
- Greenlees, Ruth, et al.
(författare)
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Paper 6: EUROCAT Member Registries: Organization and Activities
- 2011
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Ingår i: Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today: Reviews. - : Wiley. - 1542-975X. ; 91:Suppl. 1, s. 51-100
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: EUROCAT is a network of population-based congenital anomaly registries providing standardized epidemiologic information on congenital anomalies in Europe. There are three types of EUROCAT membership: full, associate, or affiliate. Full member registries send individual records of all congenital anomalies covered by their region. Associate members transmit aggregate case counts for each EUROCAT anomaly subgroup by year and by type of birth. This article describes the organization and activities of each of the current 29 full member and 6 associate member registries of EUROCAT. METHODS: Each registry description provides information on the history and funding of the registry, population coverage including any changes in coverage over time, sources for ascertaining cases of congenital anomalies, and upper age limit for registering cases of congenital anomalies. It also details the legal requirements relating to termination of pregnancy for fetal anomalies, the definition of stillbirths and fetal deaths, and the prenatal screening policy within the registry. Information on availability of exposure information and denominators is provided. The registry description describes how each registry conforms to the laws and guidelines regarding ethics, consent, and confidentiality issues within their own jurisdiction. Finally, information on electronic and web-based data capture, recent registry activities, and publications relating to congenital anomalies, along with the contact details of the registry leader, are provided. CONCLUSIONS: The registry description gives a detailed account of the organizational and operational aspects of each registry and is an invaluable resource that aids interpretation and evaluation of registry prevalence data. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 91: S51-S100, 2011. (C) 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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| 8. |
- Gustafsson, Renata, et al.
(författare)
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Dermatan sulfate epimerase 1 deficient mice as a model for human abdominal wall defects.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Birth Defects Research. Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology. - : Wiley. - 1542-0760 .- 1542-0752. ; 100:9, s. 712-720
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dermatan sulfate (DS) is a highly sulfated polysaccharide with a variety of biological functions in extracellular matrix organization and processes such as tumorigenesis and wound healing. A distinct feature of DS is the presence of iduronic acid, produced by the two enzymes, DS-epimerase 1 and 2, which are encoded by Dse and Dsel, respectively.
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| 9. |
- Gustavsson, P, et al.
(författare)
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Grainyhead genes and mammalian neural tube closure
- 2008
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Ingår i: Birth defects research. Part A, Clinical and molecular teratology. - : Wiley. - 1542-0760 .- 1542-0752. ; 82:10, s. 728-735
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 10. |
- Gäreskog, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Combined Supplementation of Folic Acid and Vitamin E Diminishes Diabetes-Induced Embryotoxicity in Rats
- 2006
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Ingår i: Birth defects research. Clinical and molecular teratology. - : Wiley. - 1542-0752 .- 1542-0760. ; 76:6, s. 483-490
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress and enhanced apoptosis may be involved in the induction of embryonic dysmorphogenesis in diabetic pregnancy. Administration of folic acid or vitamin E diminishes embryonic dysmorphogenesis. We aimed to evaluate the effect of combined treatment with folic acid and vitamin E on the disturbed development in embryos of diabetic rats. METHODS: Pregnant nondiabetic and diabetic rats were treated with daily injections of 15 mg/kg folic acid or with 5% vitamin E in the diet. A third group received combined treatment. Day 10 and day 11 embryos were evaluated for development and apoptotic profile. RESULTS: We found increased malformations, resorptions, and profound growth retardation in embryos of diabetic rats compared to control embryos. Vitamin E or folic acid alone, or the 2 compounds combined, normalized embryonic demise. Maternal diabetes caused decreased nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) activity and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) protein level, and increased Bcl-2-associated x proteins (Bax) in embryos. Supplementation of vitamin E alone normalized the Bax protein level in a diabetic environment. Administration of folic acid to diabetic rats increased NF-kappa B activity and Bcl-2 protein level. Combined treatment normalized Bcl-2 and Bax protein level in a diabetic environment. CONCLUSIONS: Combined supplementation of folic acid and vitamin E to pregnant diabetic rats diminished diabetes-induced malformations and resorptions, concomitant with normalization of apoptotic protein levels. No treatment completely abolished the embryonic demise; therefore, other mechanisms than oxidative stress and apoptosis are likely to be involved in diabetic embryopathy.
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