Pregnancy outcome after TNF-α inhibitor therapy during the first trimester: a prospective multicentre cohort study.

Aims: TNF-α inhibitors are considered relatively safe in pregnancy but experience is still limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of major birth defects, spontaneous abortion, preterm birth and reduced birth weight after first trimester exposure to TNF-α inhibitors.

Methods: Pregnancy outcomes of women on adalimumab, infliximab, etanercept, certolizumab pegol or golimumab were evaluated in a prospective observational cohort study and compared with outcomes of a non-exposed random sample.

Does the average drug exposure in pregnant women affect pregnancy outcome? A comparison of two approaches to estimate the baseline risks of adverse pregnancy outcome.

Purpose: The results of observational cohort studies on drug effects on pregnancy outcome may depend among others on suitable comparison cohorts. The aim of this investigation was to compare two distinct definitions of maternal exposure status for comparison cohorts.

Methods: We performed an observational cohort study of prospectively ascertained pregnant women who spontaneously contacted the Teratology Information Service (TIS) Berlin for drug risk consultation.

Observational cohort study of pregnancy outcome after first-trimester exposure to fluoroquinolones.

Fluoroquinolones are avoided during pregnancy due to developmental toxicity in animals. The aim of this study was to assess the fetal risk after intrauterine fluoroquinolone exposure. We performed an observational study of a prospectively ascertained cohort of pregnant women exposed to a fluoroquinolone during the first trimester.

Pregnancy outcome after methotrexate treatment for rheumatic disease prior to or during early pregnancy: a prospective multicenter cohort study.

Objective: High-dose methotrexate (MTX) exposure during pregnancy is associated with embryopathy. The teratogenic potential of MTX at dosages typically used in the treatment of rheumatic diseases remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of spontaneous abortion, major birth defects, elective termination of pregnancy, shortened gestational age at delivery, and reduced birth weight in women exposed to MTX.

No evidence for an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcome after paternal low-dose methotrexate: an observational cohort study.

Objective: There is increasing awareness of the potential impact of paternal exposures on pregnancy outcome. In particular this applies to MTX, which is used in low doses for the treatment of RA and other inflammatory diseases. MTX is associated with a specific pattern of malformations in fetuses of exposed women, but there is uncertainty concerning the risk of paternal low-dose MTX.

Tactile and visual motion direction processing in hMT+/V5.

The human motion complex hMT+/V5 is activated not only by visual motion, but also by tactile and auditory motion. Whilst direction-selectivity has been found within this complex for visual and auditory stimuli, it is unknown whether hMT+/V5 also contains direction-specific information from the tactile modality. In the current study, we sought to investigate whether hMT+/V5 contains direction-specific information about visual/tactile moving stimuli.

Maintenance and manipulation of somatosensory information in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.

Neuroimaging studies of working memory (WM) suggest that prefrontal cortex may assist sustained maintenance, but also internal manipulation, of stimulus representations in lower-level areas. A different line of research in the somatosensory domain indicates that neuronal activity in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) may also represent specific memory contents in itself, however leaving open to what extent top-down control on lower-level areas is exerted, or how internal manipulation processes are implemented. We used functional imaging and connectivity analysis to study static maintenance and internal manipulation of tactile working memory contents after physically identical stimulation conditions, in human subjects.

Allopurinol Use during Pregnancy - Outcome of 31 Prospectively Ascertained Cases and a Phenotype Possibly Indicative for Teratogenicity.

Allopurinol is a purine analogue that inhibits xanthine oxidase. It is mainly used for the treatment of hyperuricemia in patients with gout or tumor lysis syndrome. Experience with allopurinol in pregnancy is scarce.

Atypical antipsychotic drugs and pregnancy outcome: a prospective, cohort study.

Women of childbearing age are often affected with psychotic disorders, requiring the use of antipsychotic medication during pregnancy. In the present study, we prospectively followed the pregnancies of 561 women exposed to second-generation antipsychotic agents (SGAs; study cohort) and compared these to 284 pregnant women exposed to first-generation antipsychotic agents (FGAs; comparison cohort I) and to 1122 pregnant women using drugs known as not harmful to the unborn (comparison cohort II). Subjects were enrolled through the Institute's consultation service.

[Drug safety in pregnancy - the Embryotox project].

In many countries drug risk classifications tend to create the impression of a high level of risk, leading healthcare professionals and consumers to overestimate the actual risk when seeking a drug of choice or estimating the risk of a past exposure during pregnancy. In addition, there are insufficient human data for the majority of drugs used by women of reproductive age to precisely assess their prenatal risk or safety. The Berlin Institute for Clinical Teratology and Drug Risk Assessment in Pregnancy provides pertinent information in this field to healthcare professionals and pregnant women.

Tactile motion and pattern processing assessed with high-field FMRI.

Processing of motion and pattern has been extensively studied in the visual domain, but much less in the somatosensory system. Here, we used ultra-high-field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 7 Tesla to investigate the neuronal correlates of tactile motion and pattern processing in humans under tightly controlled stimulation conditions. Different types of dynamic stimuli created the sensation of moving or stationary bar patterns during passive touch.

Oscillatory correlates of vibrotactile frequency processing in human working memory.

Previous animal research has revealed neuronal activity underlying short-term retention of vibrotactile stimuli, providing evidence for a parametric representation of stimulus frequency in primate tactile working memory (Romo et al., 1999). Here, we investigated the neural correlates of vibrotactile frequency processing in human working memory, using noninvasive electroencephalography (EEG).

Adaptive changes in gene expression patterns in the somatosensory cortex after deletion of ephrinA5.

The role of wiring molecules in circuit assembly is tested directly in genetically engineered animals, in which the corresponding gene has been selectively mutated. Minor alterations in neuronal circuits in these mutant animals are explained by redundancy and/or adaptive changes of other genes relevant for brain development. There is very little known, however, about the extent and nature of the compensatory molecular mechanisms.