Advertising Disclaimer
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rodier, P. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rodier, P. M.
Related Collections
Right arrow Therapeutics & Toxicology
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?
PEDIATRICS Vol. 113 No. 4 April 2004, pp. 1076-1083

SUPPLEMENT ARTICLE

Environmental Causes of Central Nervous System Maldevelopment

Patricia M. Rodier, PhD

From the Department of OB/GYN, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York

The central nervous system is the most vulnerable of all body systems to developmental injury. This review focuses on developmental processes by which the nervous system is formed and how those processes are known or suspected to be injured by toxic agents. The processes discussed are establishment of neuron numbers; migration of neurons; establishment of connections, neurotransmitter activity, and receptor numbers; deposition of myelin; and 2 processes that are prominent in postnatal development, trimming back of connections and postnatal neurogenesis. Our knowledge of the risks of exposure to environmental hazards in childhood and adolescence is minimal. Most of our information concerns the effects of neurotoxicants in prenatal and early postnatal life. More worrisome than our lack of data regarding later stages of development is the minimal effort that we have mounted to protect the public from known neurotoxic agents and that regulations for testing new drugs and chemicals still do not require any assessment of neuroteratologic effects.

Key Words: CNS development • teratology • critical periods • gene-environment interactions

Abbreviations: CNS, central nervous system • MAM, methylazoxymethanol • RA, retinoic acid • VPA, valproic acid • GABA, {gamma}-aminobutyric acid

Received for publication Oct 7, 2003; Accepted Oct 20, 2003.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 PediatricsHome page
F. P. Perera, Z. Li, R. Whyatt, L. Hoepner, S. Wang, D. Camann, and V. Rauh
Prenatal Airborne Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposure and Child IQ at Age 5 Years
Pediatrics, August 1, 2009; 124(2): e195 - e202.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol.Home page
A. Kanaan, R. Farahani, R. M. Douglas, J. C. LaManna, and G. G. Haddad
Effect of chronic continuous or intermittent hypoxia and reoxygenation on cerebral capillary density and myelination
Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, April 1, 2006; 290(4): R1105 - R1114.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Toxicol SciHome page
J. M. Gohlke, W. C. Griffith, and E. M. Faustman
A Systems-Based Computational Model for Dose-Response Comparisons of Two Mode of Action Hypotheses for Ethanol-Induced Neurodevelopmental Toxicity
Toxicol. Sci., August 1, 2005; 86(2): 470 - 484.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]