Arteriovenous malformation (AVM, larger vascular malformations) occur in larger organs, predominantly the lungs (50%), liver (30 70%) and the brain (10%), with a very small proportion ( Vascular malformations in the lungs may cause a number of problems.
Studies in rodents demonstrate that exposure to estrogenic or antiandrogenic compounds during gestation may cause malformations of the genitals in male fetuses, including cryptorchidism [ 21- 23].
Intrauterine infection of the foetus during the susceptible periods of development, i.e. around gestation days 60 180, by BVDV, SBV, BTV, AKAV and AV may cause malformations in the central nervous system, especially in the brain.
Anatomical abnormalities (presence of concha bullosa, septum deviation, paradoxal turbinate concha, malformation of uncinated process) may cause decreased drainage of the maxillary sinus.
LCMV is responsible for aseptic meningitis and encephalitis (6 ) and may cause congenital malformations or abortion (7 ).
The increased levels of apoptosis in the midbrain and pronephric kidney we observe suggest that atrazine may cause tissue malformations by inducing ectopic programmed cell death, either directly or indirectly through a mechanism that has not been identified.
As already shown, after RNAi for SeTre-1, the expression level of SeTre-2 increased initially followed by a persistent reduction until the prepupal stage, leading to a severe shortage of glucose in the pupal progress, which may cause pupation malformation (Figure 5C, Figure 8).
Also, Cited2 haploinsufficiency may cause cardiac malformation by reducing expression of key Cited2 targets such as Pitx2c.
Although complete loss-of-function mutations in genes that are central to the formation of the Isthmic Organizer (such as Otx2, Gbx2 and Fgf8) are still likely to be incompatible with human life, this study implies that genes which regulate the expression of central Isthmic Organizer genes may cause cerebellar malformation when mutated.
