EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT & STEM CELL COMPENDIUM
EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT & STEM CELL COMPENDIUM
Appendix 4. Teratogens Known to Cause Human Malformations
Review of MEDICAL EMBRYOLOGY Book by BEN PANSKY, Ph.D, M.D.
- Androgenic agents
- ETHISTERONE AND MORESTHISTERONE
- Implicated with varying degrees of masculinization of female fetuses, , most have labial fusion and clitoral hypertrophy
- DIETHYLSTILBESTROL (DES)
- May not be teratogenic (?) to the embryo or fetus, but is carcinogenic to female offspring in later life (16 to 22 years)
- Antitumor agents
- AMINOPTERIN
- Implicated in a wide range of skeletal defects and malformations of the CNS, particularly anencephaly
- BUSULFAN (MYLERAN) alternating with 6-mercaptopurine
- Implicated with stunted growth, skeletal abnormalities, corneal opacities, cleft palate, and hypoplasia of various organs
- METHOTREXATE
- Implicated with multiple malformations, especially skeletal
- Sedative-hypnotics
- Thalidomide: its use results in meromelia and other limb malformations, as well as malformations of the external ears, heart, and digestive tract
- Infectious agents
- CYTOMEGALOVIRUS
- Implicated with microcephaly, hydrocephalus, microphthalmia, microgyria, and mental retardation
- RUBELLA VIRUS
- Implicated with cataracts, chorioretinitis, deafness, microphthalmia, and congenital heart defects
- TOXOPLASMA GONDII
- Implicated with microcephaly, microphthalmia, hydrocephalus, and chorioretinitis
- HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS
- Implicated with microcephaly, microphthalmia, and retinal dysplasia
- VARICELLA ZOSTER VIRUS
- May cause congenital malformations similar to those from other viruses
- SYPHILIS MICROORGANISM (TREPONEMA PALLIDUM)
- Implicated with wasting of fetal tissues, malformations of the teeth, fetal meningitis, mental retardation, hydrocephalus, deafness, and central nervous system disease
- Pneumonia alba is a form of chronic pneumonia seen in "Stillborn and newborn infants dying of congenital syphilis
- Therapeutic radiation
- A. Implicated with microcephaly and skeletal malformations
- B. Mutations in fetal germ cells have also been noted
- Alkaloids
- CAFFEINE
- It is questionable as to whether or not, depending on level of usage, it is implicated in congenital malformations of the human embryo
- NICOTINE
- Its implications with human congenital malformations is not certain, but it does have an effect on fetal growth, resulting in increased premature delivery, thus, lower weight infants
- Alcohol (chronic) has been implicated with prenatal and postnatal growth deficiency, mental retardation, microcephaly, short palpebral fissures, maxillary hypoplasia, abnormal palmar creases, joint abnormalities, and congenital heart disease
- V Antibiotics
- TETRACYCLINE
- In the second and third trimesters of pregnancy has been implicated with tooth enamel hypoplasia, yellow-brown discoloration of the deciduous teeth, distortion of bone growth, and possibly congenital cataract
- STREPTOMYCIN
- Implicated with deafness in infants
- PENICILLIN
- Appears to have no teratogenic effects
- Anticoagulants
- WARFARIN
- May result in fetal hemorrhage
- Implicated with hypoplasia of the nasal bones
- Anticonvulsants
- TRIMETHADIONE (TRIDONE) OR PARAMETHADIONE (PARADIONE)
- Implicated with fetal dysmorphia, cardiac defects, cleft palate, intrauterine growth retardation, and digital hypoplasia
- DILANTIN, PHENYTOIN, AND PHENYTOIN WITH BARBITURATE
- Have been experimentally implicated with cleft palate
- In the human, there is some indication of involvement with hypoplasia of the terminal phalanges
- X Corticosteroids are apparently weak teratogens in the human, but experimentally have been shown to cause cleft palate and cardiac defects
- X Insulin: does not appear to be teratogenic in the human embryo
- X Thyroid drugs
- POTASSIUM IODIDE (KI), 131-IODINE, AND PROPYLTHIOURACIL have all been implicated in congenital goiter
- X LSD and marihuana: ideas about their implication in congenital defect formation have been conflicting and not fully proven. There is some indication that they may cause some limb malformations and some severe CNS abnormalities
- X Environmental chemicals (industrial pollutants and food additives) have not been specifically shown to cause abnormal defects
- X Mercury has been implicated with fetal Minamata disease (caused by eating fish contaminated with mercury) with neurologic and behavioral disturbances such as cerebral palsy, brain damage, mental retardation, and blindness
- X Mechanical factors on the uterus and fetus: such factors are rarely involved in the formation of abnormal defects