Comment on “Identifying Human Teratogens: An Update”

I read with interest the concise foreword on identifying the human teratogens by Alwan and Chambers which was published in the special issue Prenatal Exposures and Short and Long Term Developmental Outcomes of Journal of Pediatric Genetics.[1]

The authors referred the maternal rubella infection,[2] as the first identified human teratogen. However, teratogenic effects of X-ray irradiation had been suggested by Goldstein and Murphy in 1929,[3] [4] which was 12 years before Gregg made the observation regarding rubella in 1941.[2]

Therefore, the first identified human teratogen is not rubella but X-ray irradiation.[3] [4] [5]

• References

• 1 Alwan S, Chambers CD. Identifying Human Teratogens: An Update. J Pediatr Genet 2015; 4 (2) 39-41
• 2 Gregg NM. Congenital cataract following German measles in the mother. 1941. Aust N Z J Ophthalmol 1991; 19 (4) 267-276
• 3 Goldstein L, Murphy DPL. Microcephalic idiocy following radium therapy for uterine cancer during pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1929; 18: 189-195 (281–3).
• 4 Goldstein L, Murphy DP. Etiology of ill health in children born after maternal pelvic irradiation. Part II. Defective children born after postconceptional maternal irradiation. Am J Roentgenol 1929; 22: 322-331
• 5 Ujházy E, Mach M, Navarová J, Brucknerová I, Dubovický M. Teratology - past, present and future. Interdiscip Toxicol 2012; 5 (4) 163-168