Ocular teratology

doi:10.1016/0039-6257(91)90107-Q

Survey of Ophthalmology

Volume 35, Issue 6, May–June 1991, Pages 429-446

https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-6257(91)90107-Q Get rights and content

Abstract

The principles of teratology are described, and animal models for research in abnormal ocular development and clinical studies of human teratogens are surveyed. A review is made of presumed ocular teratogenic agents: radiation; external environmental teratogens; maternal conditions such as infections, diabetes, and epilepsy; alcohol and drugs such as thalidomide, retinoic acid, and coumarin anticoagulants; and other agents, such as cigarettes.

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Lutein and its oxidized forms in eye structures throughout prenatal human development
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Citation Excerpt :
We may suppose that lutein detected in the vitreous body of the eye throughout the second trimester of pregnancy apparently protects this developing tissue from reactive oxygen species. This follows from the fact that the period in which lutein is present in the vitreous body coincides with the period of the active regression of hyaloid vessels (Mann, 1949; Strömland et al., 1991; Zhu et al., 2000) and development of collagen matrix of the vitreous (Azuma et al., 1998). The presence of lutein oxidized forms, but not lutein itself, in the lens and CBI could be explained by faster lutein oxidation processes than its delivery to these tissues.
The presence of carotenoids in the vitreous body, retina, lens, retinal pigment epithelium together with choroid (hereinafter RPE), and ciliary body and iris together with choroidal stroma (hereinafter CBI) was studied throughout the second trimester of prenatal development of the human eye. It has been found that the vitreous body, retina, and RPE contain lutein and its oxidized forms. Zeaxanthin was not found in the tissues studied. The presence of lutein in the vitreous body is transient and no longer detected after 28 weeks of gestation. Lutein was not detected in the lens and CBI, but its oxidized forms were found. The presence of carotenoids in different tissues of the eye in the course of normal eye development and the antioxidant role of carotenoids are discussed.
Asymmetric optic tracts in a case of unilateral isolated clinical anophthalmia—A rare case report and review of literature
2016, Journal of the Anatomical Society of India
Citation Excerpt :
Epidemiological investigations have shown genetic, heritable and environmental causes for anophthalmia. Certain drugs, maternal infections and pesticides (Benomyl) have been found as potential agents causing anophthalmia.6,7 The genetic mechanisms underlying the etiology of anophthalmia have been recently investigated.
Anophthalmia is a rare anomaly, the prevalence being around 3 in 100,000. It is defined as the absence of ocular tissue in the orbit. It can be seen in isolation or as part of a syndrome (in 1/3rd of cases) and can be unilateral or bilateral. Clinical anophthalmia is a term used to describe cases where the orbit seems to have no eyeball but histological studies may show evidence of ocular remnants. The present study reports the gross anatomical findings in a very rare case of unilateral and isolated anophthalmia of the right side. Despite the fact that the individual had only a rudimentary right optic nerve, an optic chiasm was developed and optic tracts were seen, but, interestingly, were asymmetric in the thickness, in such a manner that the right optic tract had increased thickness than the left optic tract. The details of the findings, with a brief review of anophthalmia and the mechanisms related to the morphogenesis of the chiasm and optic neural pathways are discussed. The exact embryogenesis of the pattern described in this case report is not clear, but this report will have implications in studies of axonal guidance and development of visual apparatus. A similar appearance has been reported in a follow up MRI study of early monocular enucleation in unilateral retinoblastoma cases, but the occurrence of asymmetric optic tracts in a case of unilateral anophthalmia is, to the best knowledge of the authors, a new finding in a very rare congenital anomaly.
Development and Congenital Abnormalities
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Myelination changes in the rat optic nerve after prenatal exposure to methamphetamine
2006, Brain Research
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The significance to humans of the optic nerve hypoplasia and the reduction of the myelin ensheathment observed in rats after prenatal exposure to MA are not yet clear. In the best-characterized fetal alcohol syndrome, the optic nerve head hypoplasia and visual impairment observed in children prenatally exposed to alcohol (Stromland, 1985; Stromland et al., 1991) are supported by the reduced optic nerve cross-sectional area and the delayed myelination observed in rats (Harris et al., 2000; Pinazo-Duran et al., 1997, 2005). In conclusion, the data herein support the view that the structural organization of the optic nerve is affected by early chronic exposure to methamphetamine, as has been reported earlier for cocaine and amphetamine (Silva-Araujo et al., 1991).
The use of psychostimulants during adolescence and early adult life has increased in recent years. It is known that these substances affect the sensory systems, and the optic nerve has been shown to be a target tissue. This work was conducted to evaluate the effects of prenatal exposure to methamphetamine (MA) on the developmental pattern of the rat optic nerve. Pregnant female rats were given 5 mg/kg body weight/day MA, s.c., in 0.9% saline from gestational days 8 to 22. The control group was injected with an isovolumetric dose of 0.9% saline. Animal model parameters, such as gestational body weight evolution, food intake and pups parameters were registered. The offspring were sacrificed at postnatal days (PND) 7, 14 and 21. Morphometric analyses were performed at light and electron microscopic levels on optic nerve cross sections; parameters measured included optic nerve diameter and area, axonal density, total number of axons and myelin thickness. Myelin basic protein (MBP) was measured by western blotting in optic nerve samples at PND14 and PND21. The animal model parameters, such as maternal and pup weight, showed no significant differences between MA and control groups. Optic nerve diameter was smaller at PND7 in the male MA group and in both male and female MA groups at PND21. The mean cross-sectional area was smaller at PND14 in the male MA group and in both male and female groups at PND21. The total number of myelinated axons did not vary between groups at any of the studied ages. The myelin thickness of the axons in MA-treated females was thinner when compared with the respective control group at PND21. No other differences were found concerning myelin thickness. There was a reduction of MBP protein expression in MA-injected females at PND14 and PND21. The combined results suggest that prenatal exposure to MA affects the myelination process.
Optic nerve hypoplasia and small eyes in presumed amblyopia
2000, Journal of AAPOS
Citation Excerpt :
Optic nerve fibers that fail to connect to their target nuclei undergo pyknosis.23,77 The disruption of these normal orderly processes occurring after 18 weeks by metabolic insults, injuries,78 or exposure to certain chemicals results in decreased optic nerve cross section.69,79,80 Lesions in the cerebral cortex can also decrease optic nerve size by prenatal retrograde degeneration of optic nerve fibers.
Purpose: To assess the anatomy of eyes presumed to be amblyopic and their fellow eyes. Participants: Two hundred seventy-five patients diagnosed with amblyopia and 88 healthy or glaucomatous subjects. Methods: All subjects underwent complete examinations, including cycloplegic refraction, slit lamp examination, ophthalmoscopy, and retinal imaging. Axial lengths were determined on 263 amblyopic and 88 healthy and glaucomatous subjects by ultrasonic biometry. Main outcome measures: Optic disc areas were determined by magnification correction of disc images performed with formulas. Dysversion of the optic disc was determined by simultaneous viewing of disc photographs, digitized images of both eyes, or both. Results: The mean disc area of eyes presumed to be amblyopic was 1.72 mm² ± 0.73 SD and 1.95 mm² ± 0.69 SD for nonamblyopic eyes (P = .0017). The mean disc area for 176 optic discs of glaucomatous and healthy eyes was 2.61 mm² ± 0.95 SD. The mean axial length for eyes in the general population is 23.65 mm ± 1.35 SD. The healthy and glaucomatous group in this study had a mean axial length of 23.89 mm ± 1.29 SD. The eyes with poorer vision that were assumed to be amblyopic averaged 22.42 mm ± 2.01 SD in length, whereas their nonamblyopic fellow eyes averaged 22.83 mm ± 1.89 SD (P = .022). The differences between eyes in the healthy population and eyes that are presumably amblyopic, as well as the healthy and fellow eyes, are highly significant (P < .0001)(7.0 × 10⁻¹⁶). Conclusion: Vision impairment in presumed amblyopia is associated with optic nerve hypoplasia with relative microphthalmos, which is more notable in those eyes with poorer vision. (J AAPOS 2000;4:258-66)
Ocular development after highly effective modulator treatment early in life
2023, Frontiers in Pharmacology

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^☆: This work was supported in parts by The Swedish Alcohol Research Fund, First of Mayflower Annual Campaign for Childrens Health, Wilhelm och Martina Lundgrens Vetenskapsfond, Föreningen De Blindas Vänner, Sweden, core grant 1792 from the National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, by an unrestricted research grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc, New York, New York and by NIH grant ROI EY08147.

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Major reviewOcular teratology☆

Abstract

Clin Perinatol

Dev Biol

Lancet

J Pediatr

Dev Biol

Am J Ophthalmol

Am J Ophthalmol

Am J Obstet Gynecol

J Pediatr

Lancet

Lancet

Am J Obstet Gynecol

Am J Obstet Gynecol

Clin Pediatr

J Pediatr

J Pediatr

Nature

Arch Pathol

Lancet

Pediatrics

N Engl J Med

Münch Med Wochenschr

Can Med Assoc J

Lancet

The development of the angle of the anterior chamber in vertebrate eyes

Doc Ophthalmol

The teratogenicity of cadmium chloride in two stocks of Wistar rats

Teratology

Teratogenicity of sodium arsenate in rats

Teratology

Chondrodysplasia punctata

Am J Dis Child

The isotretinoin teratogen syndrome

JAMA

Anticonvulsant drugs in monotherapy. Effect on the fetus

Eur J Epidemiol

The congenital varicella syndrome

Eur J Pediatr

Optic cup formation: A calcium-regulated process

Radiations and other physical agents

Radiation teratogenesis

Teratology

Cytomegalic inclusion disease uveitis

Arch Ophthalmol

Congenital abnormalities in the rat resulting from single injections of a 6-aminonicotin-amide during pregnancy

J Exp Zool

Ocular pathology of the congenital varicella syndrome

Arch Ophthalmol

Medical progress: The fetal alcohol syndrome

N Engl J Med

Etudes des malformations oculaires determinees chez l'embryon de Lapin par le cyclophosphamide

Arch Anal Histol Embryol

Congenital syphilis of the eye with lens involvement

Arch Ophthalmol

Sequential scanning electron microscopic analyses of normal and spontaneously occurring abnormal ocular development in C57B16J mice

Scan Electron Microsc

Fetal alcohol syndrome: Eye malformations in a mouse model

Arch Ophthalmol

Keratolenticular dysgenesis (Peters' anomaly) as a result of acute embryonic insult during gastrulation

J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus

Cytomegalic inclusion disease

Arch Ophthalmol

Ocular defects in thalidomide babies

Br J Ophthalmol

Fréquence du syndrome d'alcoolisme fætal

Nouv Presse Méd

Abnormalities in children exposed to X-radiation during various stages of gestation: tentative timetable of radiation injury to the human fetus, part I

J Nuclear Med

Multiple congenital malformations associated with maternal isotretinoin therapy

Pediatrics

Production of major cerebral malformations by drugs with special reference to the holoprosencephalies (cyclopia-arhinencephaly)

Congenital anomalies in offspring of insulin-dependent diabetic mothers

Diabetes Educator

Pregnancy and delivery of a patient with a Starr-Edwards mitral valve prosthesis

Obstet Gynecol

Major review
Ocular teratology☆

Sequential scanning electron microscopic analyses of normal and spontaneously occurring abnormal ocular development in $C57B1 6J$ mice